FIM-92 Stinger
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FIM-92 Stinger
FIM-92 Stinger
FIM-92 Stinger
Basic data
Function short-range man portable surface-to-air missile
Manufacturer Raytheon Missile Systems
Unit cost US$38,000
Entered service 1981
General characteristics
Engine two-stage solid rocket motor
Launch mass 15.2 kg
Length 1.52 meters
Diameter 70 mm
Speed
Range 4,800 meters (15,750 ft.)
Warhead 3 kg penetrating hit-to-kill
Guidance Passive infrared homing
Launch platform Man Portable

The FIM-92 Stinger is a man portable infra-red homing surface-to-air missile developed in the United States and used by all the US armed services, with whom it entered service in 1981. The basic Stinger missile has to date been responsible for 270 confirmed kills of aircraft.

It is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems and also under license by EADS in Germany. Raytheon designates the missile as a MANPADS (Man-Portable Air-Defense System). It is used by the military of the United States and by 29 other countries. Around 70,000 missiles have been produced.
Contents
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* 1 Description
* 2 History
* 3 Service
* 4 Cost
* 5 Operators
* 6 References
* 7 See also
* 8 External links
* 9 Video of Stinger In Action

[edit] Description
Two soldiers preparing to fire a shoulder-mounted Stinger missile launcher
Two soldiers preparing to fire a shoulder-mounted Stinger missile launcher

Light to carry and relatively easy to operate, the FIM-92 Stinger is a passive surface-to-air missile, shoulder-fired by a single operator, although officially it requires two. The FIM-92B can attack aircraft at a range of up to 15,700 feet (4800 m) and at altitudes between 600 and 12,500 feet (180 and 3800 m). The missile can also be fired from the M-1097 Avenger vehicle and the M6 Linebacker an air defense variant of the M2 Bradley IFV. The missile is also capable of being deployed from HMMWV Stinger rack, and can be used by airborne paratroopers. A helicopter launched version exists called the ATAS or Air-to-Air Stinger.

The missile is 1.52 m long and 70 mm in diameter with 10 mm fins. The missile itself weighs 10.1 kg, while the missile with launcher weighs approximately 15.2 kg (33.5 pounds). The Stinger is launched by a small ejection motor that pushes it a safe distance from the operator before engaging the main solid-fuel two-stage motor which accelerates it to a maximum speed of Mach 2.2 (750 m/s). The warhead is a 3 kg penetrating hit-to-kill warhead type with an impact fuse and a self-destruct timer.

In order to fire the missile, a BCU (Battery Coolant Unit) must be inserted into the handguard. This shoots a stream of argon gas into the system, as well as a chemical energy charge that enables the acquisition indicators, and missile to get power. The batteries are somewhat sensitive to abuse, and only hold so much gas in them. Over time, and without proper maintenance, they are known to become unserviceable. The IFF antenna receives its power from a rechargeable battery.

There are three main variants in use; the Stinger basic, STINGER-Passive Optical Seeker Technique (POST), and STINGER-Reprogrammable Microprocessor (RMP). The RMP version is commonly used by the United States Army, and is excellent for combating countermeasures used by the enemy.

The Stinger-RMP is so-called because of its ability to load a new set of software via a ROM inserted in the gripstock at the depot. If this download to the missile fails during power-up, basic functionality runs off the on-board ROM. The four-processor RMP has 4K of RAM for each processor; since the downloaded code runs from RAM, there isn't much space to spare, particularly for the processors dedicated to seeker input processing and target analysis. The RMP has a dual-detector seeker: IR and UV. This allows it to distinguish targets from countermeasures much better than the Redeye, which was IR-only.

[edit] History
National Guard soldiers training with a Stinger Missile
National Guard soldiers training with a Stinger Missile

Initial work on the missile was begun by General Dynamics in 1967 as the Redeye II. It was accepted for further development by the US Army in 1971 and designated FIM-92; the Stinger appellation was chosen in 1972. Because of technical difficulties that dogged testing, the first shoulder launch was not until mid-1975. Production of the FIM-92A began in 1978 to replace the FIM-43 Redeye. An improved Stinger with a new seeker, the FIM-92B, was produced from 1983 alongside the FIM-92A. Production of both the A and B types ended in 1987 with around 16,000 missiles produced.