The Stinger is a man-portable, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. It is designed to counter fast, low flying ground attack aircraft. The missile is guided to its target by an infra-red, heat seeking guidance system. The Stinger's "fire-and-forget" homing ability allows gunners to take cover or to engage new targets immediately after firing.
The Stinger system consists of the launcher assembly, a missile and grip-stock. It is a lightweight, self-contained air defense system that can be rapidly deployed on many military platforms in many combat situations.
In 1986, the U.S. began shipping approximately 1,000 Stingers to the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan for use against Soviet aircraft. Approximately 270 Soviet aircraft were downed with these missiles(a 79 percent combat success rate). Unfortunately, many of these (and apparently other) Stingers in the hands of non-US users have been diverted to unfriedly hands. Stingers originally sent to the Afghan resistance appeared in Iran and were used for anti-aircraft defense for Iranian patrol boats. Other Stingers were captured by the Afghan Army and turned over to the Soviet Army.
Congress provided funds ($55 million) to the CIA in recent years to buy back unused Stinger missiles and launchers, some of which have turned up in Iran, Qatar, and North Korea. Weapons experts also confirm thet Stingers from Afghanistan have shown up in Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Bosnia and Tajikistan. Thus far, the CIA has not succeeded in buying any of the missiles back.
Production: Approximately 16,000 original Stinger variants (model FIM-92A) were produced from 1979-1987. Some 600 FIM-92B Stinger-POST (Passive Optical Seeker Technique) were produced during 1983-1987.
Manufacturers: Hughes Missile Systems Company, Tuscon, Arizona and Stinger Project Group, Germany. Originally manufactured by General Dynamics in Ponoma, California, production was moved to Tuscon after Hughes Aircraft Company aquired General Dynamics' missile business in 1992. Raytheon Company in Lowell was selected as the second source in 1987, but it is not now producing Stingers.In 1988 the United States awarded a license to the Stinger Project Group (SPG) to produce missiles in Europe. SPG's lead company is Domier Gmbtl of Germany. Production began in 1992, and the license permits the production of 12,650 missiles by 1998. It does not permit SPG to sell Stinger missiles to non-SPG countries.
Service: US Army, Air Force and Marine Corps, as well as 24 other countries and groups--including Bahrain, Chad, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, Afghan Mujahadeen rebels, UNITA anti-governments forces in Angola, and various factions in Lebanon.
Specifications
| Guidance | Passive IR/UV Homing - Fire and Forget |
| Navigation | Proportional with Lead Bias |
| Speed | Supersonic |
| Weight | System: 15.2 kg; missile: 10.0 kg |
| Diameter | 70 mm |
| Length | 1.52 m |
| Range | 4.8 km |
| Identification Friend or Foe | Compatible with US/NATO Equipment |