The V3E A-Darter (Agile Darter) is a modern short-range infrared homing ("heat seeking") air-to-air missile, featuring countermeasures resistance with a 180-degree[4] look angle and 120-degrees per second track rate,[5] developed by South Africa's Denel Dynamics (formerly Kentron) and Brazil's Mectron (now SIATT), Avibras and Opto Eletrônica (acquired by AKAER).

[11] The Brazilian company Opto Eletrônica has partnered with Denel Dynamics in the development of the missile imaging infrared seeker for thermal guidance.

[14] In December 2012, the Brazilian air force commissioned Denel to build a factory in São José dos Campos, close to Mectron, Avibras and Opto Eletrônica.

[15] In February 2015, Denel Dynamics signed an agreement with Marotta Controls for supply of the latter's MPACT pure air compression technology to cool the A-Darter's infrared seeker.

[23] It is fitted with a thrust vectoring control (TVC) system[24] that allows for turning at up to 100g and for a period of 8 seconds while the motor burns, after which the missile can still retain 50g of manoverability.

[15] The absence of aluminium powder in the motor propellent inhibits production of a smoke trail, which means no visual warning for enemy aircraft.