Stinger Missiles: From Soviet Troubles to Russian Retaliation, Part 2
Effective range increased to 2.5 miles and elevation up to 11,483 feet
The Stinger is an optically aimed missile with an infrared guidance system that launches when it detects infrared rays from the target using its infrared tracking device. It also has a friend-or-foe identification (IFF) feature. This was a state-of-the-art technology at the time, as it was the only one that could fire in all directions with an infrared countermeasure (IRCM) function.
As its performance was verified by achieving such a combat record, the US military immediately started using the Stinger when it was accepted as regular equipment. Even after over 40 years of actual deployment, the Stinger is still a major air defense weapon in more than 20 countries, including the United States. However, ironically, the reality is that the Stingers supplied to the Mujahideen resistance forces at the time are now threatening the lives of US soldiers in the process of the US conducting the war on terror.
The effective range is up to 2.5 miles (3.4 miles for the improved), and the maximum elevation can reach 11,483 feet. It is a strength that a single-foot soldier can carry, and after launching, the missile tracks the target (fire and forget), boasting a high hit rate regardless of the shooter’s ability. It is evaluated as the weapon closest to the design concept of the Luftfaust, the first anti-aircraft rocket developed by Germany during World War II.
The primary purpose of portable surface-to-air missiles is to enable soldiers to engage fighter jets or attack helicopters, therefore psychologically deterring the opponent rather than blocking enemy assaults. In fact, after Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of Stingers urgently supported by the United States and the Western world are serving as one axis of the Ukrainian army’s field air defense network.
It is successfully intercepting almost all flying bodies attacking Ukraine, including Russian military attack aircraft and helicopters infiltrating at low altitudes, as well as unmanned aircraft and cruise missiles. Thanks to the active role of Stingers and other portable surface-to-air missiles of the same class, it is evaluated that the Russian military has not been able to perform a proper close air support mission even after more than 40 months of warfare.
At the end of last year, there was news that the US government had decided to sell Stinger portable air defense missiles to NATO allies. The US Department of Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has approved the foreign military sale (FMS) of Stinger missiles and related equipment worth $780 million (about 1 trillion won) requested by NATO. NATO plans to purchase 940 Stinger missiles, which Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands will use.
Maximizing explosive power by detonating inside the target
It is usually operated in pairs of two. The commander monitors the point reported from visual observation or other radar and search devices of the ally. When the enemy aircraft appears, he informs the shooter of the direction, and the shooter finds the target in the direction informed, and he fires as soon as the search device captures the target.
The launched missile flies while rotating at a certain speed. Because the missile is so tiny, it can only fit one steering device. Standard missiles have two or more steering devices to move the two pairs of wings up, down, left, and right, but the Stinger only has one, so it rotates the missile at a certain speed and moves the steering device when needed. This method is used by most missiles, including FIM-43 Redeye, Mistral, Igla, and Shinbow.
Because the missile size is so tiny, while ordinary missiles used proximity fuses, the Stinger used only delay-impact fuses. It is a method of exploding a few moments after hitting the target. This is to maximize the destructive power when the warhead enters the target.
Recently, the method of use has been diversified, and the performance has also improved. Ground-to-air defense vehicles, such as “M-1097 Avenger” and “M6 Linebacker” are equipped with vehicle-mounted Stingers. There are also “AIM-92 ATAS” (air-to-air Stingers) for air-to-air combat purposes to be operated from attack helicopters or unmanned aircraft. Some observations suggest that the current US Army has entered the development of a new concept of portable surface-to-air missiles to replace the Stinger.
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