9.7?? it cant dog fight anything and aim9ps arent even all aspect, whilst facing r60mks
you have 2 free kills against flareless planes with AIM-9P and R-60M is at least 0.6 higher BR than you
It could be a lot worse, the AV-8S at 9.7 is one of the strongest 9.7 aircraft currently, perticularly when compared to the other 4 Harriers at the same BR. (240 CMs vs the 60 of the GR3 and AV-8C and the none of the GR1, so defending against R-60s could be a LOT worse) and the best RWR of them all. Aim-9Ps compare fairly reasonably with Aim-9Gs so there is no difference there.
They cannot really go any lower currently, due to their high subsonic nature, good acceleration and flares.
But the Harriers are not without issue, all of them have a very looooooooong list of outstanding bug reports that the Devs dont really seem to want to address and 9.7 is one of the BRs that is heavily impacted by compression.
So TLDR… there isnt really anything that can be done currently, unless Gaijin decides they can be bothered to look at the Harriers
the only thing i can think of within the realm of possibility, is allowing the 9P carrying AV-8s have the AIM-9P-4 which is all aspect, and the ones with the Gs, have Ls, of which may be busted but they are still limited to 2 missiles max for the AV-8A/C platforms