Army asks Raytheon to build and upgrade FIM-92 infrared-guided short-range Stinger anti-aircraft missiles
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – U.S. Army air-defense experts are asking Raytheon Technologies Corp. (RTX) to build and upgrade FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles under terms of a $418.3 million order announced last week.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., are asking the RTX Raytheon segment in Tucson, Ariz., for Stinger missile upgrades and replacement.
One soldier can operate the FIM-92 Stinger -- a portable air-defense system that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile that can be fired from a wide variety of infantry launchers, military ground vehicles, and helicopters.
The passive surface-to-air missile can be shoulder-fired by one operator, and can acquire the target when the target approaches the operator, giving much more time to acquire and destroy the target. The FIM-92B missile also can fire from the M1097 Avenger and the M6 Linebacker weapon systems.
These missiles also can deploy from a Humvee Stinger rack, and can be used by airborne troops. A helicopter launched version exists called Air-to-Air Stinger (ATAS).
The missile is five feet long, 2.8 inches in diameter, and weighs 22 pounds. It has a targeting range of about three miles and can engage low-altitude enemy threats from as far away as 2.3 miles. The missile travels as fast as Mach 2.5, and has a 2.25-pound explosive warhead.
It entered service in 1981 and is used by the militaries of the U.S. and 29 other countries. Airbus Defence in Germany and by ROKETSAN in Turkey also can build the missile under license from RTX.
There are three main variants: the Stinger Basic, Stinger-Passive Optical Seeker Technique (POST), and Stinger-Reprogrammable Microprocessor (RMP).
The POST and RMP variants have a dual-detector infrared and ultraviolet seeker that enables the missile to distinguish targets from countermeasures. The Stinger-RMP can load a new set of software via read-only memory.
The weapon has more than 270 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter intercepts to its credit. Stinger missiles also can destroy unmanned aircraft with proximity fuzes.
On this order Raytheon will do the work in Tucson, Ariz., and should be finished by March 2028. For more information contact RTX Raytheon online at www.rtx.com/raytheon, or the Army Contracting Command-Redstone at https://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa/.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
