Well, that is news to me and never heard of it. I know I used to talk to a Russian that used to brag to me about the fact that the SU-47 or some other Russian fighter can fly backwards and that the F/A-22 couldn't. I just told him that I would love to see how those planes flying backwards would do against an AIM-9X coming up its ass. ;-))
212 - "an AIM-9X coming up its ass. ;-))"
I'm No longer privy to classified info, and don't know the specs for an AIM-9X, but I would assume it is still relatively short range and IR, and this technique would make it simpler to get beyond the performance envelope of the missile.