General Dynamics / Raytheon FIM-92 Stinger

History of General Dynamics / Thor FIM-92 Stinger

The FIM-92 Stinger is a man-portable light air defense system currently in service with the U.S. Army and other foreign armed forces. It has proven successful on different types of platforms (land, sea and air) and different types of aerial threats. From the Falklands War to Afghanistan, from the Angolan Civil War to the Yugoslav War, the Stinger saw combat action. The missile and its launcher have proven so successful that several foreign companies allied with the United States have licensed the weapon.

To date, some 70,000 missile systems have been in service.

Background

The FIM-92 Stinger was developed as a replacement for the FIM-43 Redeye. The Redeye is a man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile system that traces its origins back to a 1948 U.S. Army requirement.

The idea of ??ground artillery and cannons to defend against enemy aircraft proved ineffective when the Redeye came along, as most of the newly developed aircraft were in the high-speed jet realm. The Redeye was developed to meet this need and entered service in 1968. Production ran from 1982 to 1969, with approximately 85,000 systems in circulation. An improved full-face form soon emerged, dubbed the Redeye II, and eventually took on the Stinger name.

The Redeye was phased out between 1982 and 1995 with the introduction of the Stinger in 1981.

FIM-92 Development

In 1967, after General Dynamics was awarded the Advanced Sensor Development Program contract in July 1965, General Dynamics began advanced development work on a new Redeye replacementreferred to as "Redeye II". The U.S.

Army's system is under construction in a technical review of the Army's Air Defense Systems study, which shows an urgent need for improvements in this area. With an initiative launched in late January 1969, priority was given to getting Redeye II online as soon as possible. The U.S.

Army evaluated the program and selected the Redeye II as the official successor to the existing Redeye for further development. It was then tested against six other similar weapon systems, with the Redeye II coming out on top. On October 8, 1971, the Redeye II was designated "XFIM-92A", followed by the official designation "Stinger" in 1972. System testing began in March 1973, uncovering several technical problems in the design, and more problems were added to the evaluation, which stopped for most of 1974. After a six-month delay, the program's first rocket was launched in February 1975.

The test was successful with a direct impact on the test vehicle at a distance. Another test in March this year demonstrated the sound of the guidance system when the missile hit a jet-powered air target moving at 4g.

A test in July demonstrated the Stinger's ability to evade target countermeasures, as the missile was able to successfully engage drones. The FIM-92 was approved for standard DoD service in November 1977 and was awarded a General Dynamics production contract on April 20, 1978.

The first Stingers were discontinued in 1978 and were officially designated FIM-92A.

Stinger later developed into more deadly forms. The improved version became the FIM-92B, and production began in 1983. The upgradeable FIM-92C was introduced in 1984, and its production began in 1987 with the counter-capacity of the target aircraft. The FIM-92E came online in 1992 and production began in 1995, with an updated software suite and improved sensors, making it a more powerful system against small low-altitude aircraft. 2001 The software suite for the FIM-92F was updated again.

The FIM-92G becomes an upgraded version of the existing FIM-92D production model.

Stinger developed into three different but similar forms in "Basic Stinger", "Stinger-Passive Optical Seeker Technique (POST)" and "Stinger-Reprogrammable Microprocessor (RMP)". The Basic Stinger uses discrete component signal processing with an analog infrared (IR) reticle scanning system. The Stinger-POST has an IR/UV dual detector with rosette image scanning and microprocessor-based digital signal processing.

The Stinger RMP has a more powerful microprocessor and better adversarial detection capabilities. The export product became a less reprogrammable version of the Stinger RMP.

While the FIM-92 relies on an infrared homing system like the previous Redeye, it can better track and engage targets trying to defeat the Stinger through countermeasures. The initial launch is via a catapult motor that moves the rocket away from the operator's position before the solid rocket motor is activated.

Immediately after launch, the Stinger steers the course through proportional navigation, while later in its trajectory, the missile employs a guidance mode to steer the missile to the target mass - as opposed to the hot exhaust signature acting on the target. The nearly 5-foot-long missile can reach speeds of Mach 2.2 and use a shock fuze with a 3kg warhead to inflict lethal damage to its intended target. Essentially, the AIM-92 Stinger is a hypersonic, fire-and-forget missile with all-round engagement characteristics. The all-round feature allows the Stinger operator to engage an aerial threat even head-on - a feature that the Red Eye lacks. The system as a whole is designed to provide a quick reaction/rapid fire solution to incoming air threats.

The IFF (Identify, Friend or Foe) transceiver can be carried by the operator as a fanny pack.

The operational focus of the launch vehicle is to use the battery cooling unit (BCU) required to launch the rocket. The battery system powers the missile and target acquisition system.

So misusing or neglecting the battery over time can render the Stinger launcher unusable for four or five years, rendering it unusable. Stinger launchers typically require little maintenance other than attention to the BCU, according to reports.

The AIM-92 missile itself has an outward targeting range of up to 15,700 feet and can engage low-altitude enemy threats at altitudes of up to 12,500 feet. This makes it particularly lethal to low-altitude fighters such as the Sukhoi Su-25 "Frogfoot" and Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II, as well as helicopters of all types - whether executing attacks or transporting in nature. The missile has four spring-loaded fins near the warhead and another four stabilizing fins near the exhaust.

The missile has proven itself in day/night operations and adverse weather conditions.

Officially, the Stinger and its ilk are classified as MANPADS - "Man-portable Air Defense Systems", which are usually nothing more than SAMs (Surface-to-Air Missiles) of smaller size and range.

Use of spikes

While the Stinger system is often associated with its use as a portable shoulder-mounted unit, it has been applied to mobile ground air defense systems and airborne platforms. In earlier arrangements, the Stinger was attached to a specialized launcher, which itself was mounted on an HMMWV flatbed utility vehicle, designated the M1097 "Avenger". The Avengers have entered the ranks of the U.S.

Army and U.S. Marine Corps and have been cleared for airdrop transport. A modified version of the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle known as the "M6 Linebacker" also used the Stinger in the quad launcher.

This Bradley variant replaces the standard TOW ATGM launcher with a Stinger-capable missile launcher.

Attack helicopters like the AH-64 Apache can roll air-to-air with the Stinger mounted via wingtip launchers (the Stinger was also designed as an optional weapon for the ill-fated RAH-66 Comanche). In air-to-air roles, these stingers are often referred to as "ATAS" to refer to their role as "air-to-air stingers". Interestingly, the MQ-1 Predator drone is also allowed to use the Stinger perhaps a glimpse into the future of unmanned air-to-air combat.

Additional Services have installed the Stinger missile system and its corresponding launch vehicle as a "point defense weapon" on many of the Navy's surface ships to help counter incoming air threats.

It should be noted that the Stinger can combat many types of aerial threats, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), inbound cruise missiles, rotorcraft (helicopters), and fixed-wing aircraft.

Stinger walks around

The design of the Stinger launcher is essentially a launch tube containing the AIM-92 missile. Along the left side of the front body is a panel-like flip optical system. The trigger group is also fixed to the front in the middle of the body. There is a large bracket in front of the pistol grip for holding the gun in place with a non-triggering hand. While normally composed of two personnel and firing the stinger system, the weapon can be operated by a single person if necessary.

On the right side of the front body is a recognizable "cage" assembly. The entire system reportedly weighs 35 pounds, making it a popular point defense weapon for any military. The Stinger has reusable components (such as handles) after launch to reduce cost per unit.

Stinger in action

The Stinger was first used during the Falklands War between Great Britain and Argentina. The Argentine dictatorship saw fit to invade this chain of small islands and claim it as its own. In response, the British were called into action and a task force was sent to the area to retake territory. His special forces group -- the Special Air Service (or "SAS") -- was brought in with some examples of American-made Stingers (perhaps only six missile systems). Its first casualty was an Argentine IA 58 Pucara, a two-seater, twin-engine, low-altitude multipurpose aircraft that was shot down on May 21, 1982.

Its second victim was a French-built Aerospatiale SA330 Puma helicopter on May 30.

Perhaps Stinger's most well-known character is being held by the Mujahideen in the war against the Soviet Union that began in 1979. With anything against the Soviet Empire on the U.S. agenda, the U.S. believed that the Mujahideen should be armed with surface-to-air missile systems to make life increasingly difficult for Soviet pilots. Hundreds, if not thousands, of stingers are believed to have been delivered to the group. Once in the hands of the Mujahideen, the Stinger proved its worth and excelled alongside guerrilla tactics against more savvy foes. Soviet pilots faced increasing risks when flying at low altitudes, and the arrival (and effectiveness) of the Stinger forced the Russians to change tactics.

All told, the Stinger had such an impact on the war in Afghanistan that it was partly responsible for the imminent defeat of the Soviet Union in late 1989 and the eventual U.S. withdrawal proving incomplete. Fortunately, within five years, the Stinger battery pack was more or less unusable.

Perhaps the most pernicious of this Cold War exercise was the missile system, which fell into the hands of foreign threats to reverse engineeras was the case with Iran and North Korea.

In all of its uses, the Stinger is thought to have shot down and destroyed approximately 270 aircraft. Its ease of use, accuracy, and relatively low initial cost have made it a worldwide favorite.

Operators

Stinger has been used by Afghanistan (National Army and Mujahideen), Angola, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Chad, Chile, Denmark, Egypt and Greece, Iraq, Israel, in addition to the United States of America and the United Kingdom , Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Taiwan, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. Stinger is manufactured under license by EADS in Germany and Roketsan in Turkey. Switzerland also produces stinger locally with a license. Japan is the former operator (now working on the Type 91 system), while Sweden has never achieved use in the evaluation phase.

Japan bought Stingers in 1982, becoming the first foreign country to do so.