FIM-92 stinger
| FIM-92 stinger | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Type | Anti-aircraft missile |
| Manufacturer | Raytheon |
| Commissioning | 1980 |
| Technical specifications | |
| length | 1.52 m |
| diameter | 70 mm |
| Combat weight | Complete: 15.8 kg guided missile: 10.1 kg warhead 3 kg |
| span | 91 mm |
| drive |
Solid - rocket engine (dual-thrust) Maximum Flight Duration: 17 sec. Maximum aiming maneuver: 8 g |
| speed | Mach 2.2 |
| Range | 0.2–6 km effective range:
Minimum level of control:
Maximum level of control:
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| Furnishing | |
| Target location | Passive, infrared |
| Warhead | 3 kg fragmentation warhead with 310 g hexogen |
| Lists on the subject | |
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The FIM-92 Stinger (Engl. Stinger "sting") is an IR-guided air defense missile of the US manufacturer Raytheon , which is used against air targets. It can be fired either from the shoulder or from land, air or water vehicles.
history
development
The FIM-92 Stinger was developed as a one-man surface-to-air missile ( Man Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) ). It was the successor to the FIM-43 Redeye , the development of which had started in 1959. The Stinger began production in the USA in 1980 . Production in Europe began in 1989, and since then the Stinger has been manufactured in various versions under license in a number of countries. In Germany, this was Dornier GmbH, today part of Airbus Defense and Space. The first Fliegerfäuste 2 Stinger were sent to units of the German Army in 1992.
The original manufacturer General Dynamics has since sold the rights to the weapon to the missile specialist Raytheon , previously Hughes MSC. The missile is also used in the US Army's M6 linebacker anti-aircraft tank . The tank can hold up to four of this type ready to go. Another six can be carried inside the tank.
In 1984 a development program based on the Stinger began for an air-to-air missile system . The Air-to-Air Stinger (ATAS) program offers a target-sensitive, lightweight IR missile for use from short ranges against low-flying aircraft and helicopters. This variant, also known as the AIM-92 Stinger, is mainly used by the American attack helicopters Hughes AH-64 Apache and Bell OH-58 Kiowa.
Used in proxy wars during the 1980s
After the Soviet troops marched into Afghanistan in the 1980s , the CIA delivered more than 2,000 stingers to the mujahideen through intermediaries in Pakistan . a. the Soviet attack helicopters of the type Mi-24 Hind and were able to partially break the hitherto safe air supremacy of the Soviets. The FIM-92A / B models used achieved a shooting probability of 79%. According to Russian information, however, only 29 of 78 Mi-24s lost during the Afghanistan mission were shot down by MANPADS. 18 Hinds shot down explicitly on the Stinger, of which only two helicopters fell victim to a single hit. When used against aircraft, 7.2% of the FIM-92 Stinger kills are said to have resulted in a loss. Against Su-25 , Mi-24 and Mi-8 the odds were 4.7%, 3.2% and 18%, respectively.
After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, many of the weapons remained in the country and there was a risk that they could fall into the hands of terrorists and be used against civilian aircraft. The USA therefore invested considerable sums in buying back the missiles; nevertheless not all could be secured.
Another resistance group that was supplied with Stinger from 1986 onwards was UNITA in Angola .
To date, around 270 aircraft and helicopter kills have been confirmed by Stinger Basic guided missiles. Of these, 250 were shot down on fixed wing and fixed wing aircraft of the Soviet Union during the Soviet-Afghan war .
technology
The Stinger is a short-range missile equipped with a passive homing head. Its detector works in the IR / UV range (3.5-5.0 µm and 0.3-0.4 µm) and is cooled by argon . The target acquisition is reported to the shooter by an acoustic signal and the activation of a vibrator (bone shaker) by the launcher. The stinger works on the fire-and-forget principle, i. That is, after firing, the rocket pursues its target independently - the shooter does not have to leave it aimed, as with other models, and after firing there is no longer any connection between the launch platform and the rocket.
The effective fighting range is approx. 4,000 m, whereby it is assumed that the stinger can reach up to 10,000 m under favorable conditions, such as little steering movements. The Israeli Armed Forces give a hit probability of 80% at combat distances of up to 6 km (at least for FIM-92B). The height to be combated is around 3,000 m. A solid rocket motor serves as the drive, which is ignited as soon as the rocket ejected by a gas charge has traveled a few meters. The fragmentation warhead of 320 g HTA is ignited exclusively by the impact, whereby the missile performs a target-adaptive end-phase steering in order to hit the target laterally (in most cases directly into the fuel tank of the enemy aircraft). The damage done is increased by delayed ignition, as the warhead does not detonate until inside the target. If the target is missed, the missile destroys itself after 17 seconds of flight time.
variants
- FIM-92A , Stinger Basic : The basic model.
- FIM-92B , Stinger POST : In this version, the pure infrared seeker head was exchanged for a combined IR / UV with rosette scanning. As a result, a significantly higher resistance to hostile countermeasures ( flares ) and natural disturbances was achieved. Production ran from 1981 to 1987, with a total of 600 guided missiles being produced.
- FIM-92C , Stinger RMP : With more powerful digital computer components, the resistance to interference has been increased again. In addition, the software of the guided missile could now be reconfigured in a short time in order to be able to react quickly and efficiently to new types of countermeasures. By 1991, over 20,000 models were produced for the US Army alone .
- FIM-92D: Various modifications were made to this version to further increase the resistance to interference.
- FIM-92E , Stinger-RMP Block I : A newly added roll sensor and revised control software have significantly improved the flight behavior. In addition, the performance against small targets such as drones , cruise missiles and light reconnaissance helicopters has been improved. The first deliveries began in 1995. In the meantime, almost the entire inventory of Stinger guided weapons has been replaced by this variant.
- FIM-92F: Another improvement on the E version.
- FIM-92G: An unspecified upgrade of the D variant.
- FIM-92H: Designates a D-guided missile that has been upgraded to the E standard.
- FIM-92I , Stinger-RMP Block II : This variant should be developed on the basis of the E version. The centerpiece was an imaging infrared seeker head, which is also used in the AIM-9X . With this modification, the detection range and the resistance to disruptive measures could have been greatly increased. Changes to the cell would also have enabled a significant increase in range. The guided weapon reached the test phase, but the program was canceled in 2002 for budget reasons.
- FIM-92J: Modernized version of the FIM-92E from 2018. Equipped with modern electronics and proximity fuse . This should also be able to fight drones and cruise missiles . FIM-92J should also be able to better distinguish between the actual target and IR decoys . The FIM-92J exists either as a retrofit program or as a new production.
- FIM-92K: Version of the FIM-92J with additional data link for use from the M1097 Avenger .
- ADSM , Air Defense Suppression Missile : With an additional passive radar seeker, this variant can also be used against radar displays .
Comparable systems
commitment
Germany
The Bundeswehr has had around 4,400 of these anti-aircraft weapons since the end of the 1990s and uses them in three branches of the armed forces:
- Army : in the Army anti-aircraft troops in Fliegerfaust squads with anti-tank groups and light anti-aircraft batteries (also jump use). The Army Aviation use the Stinger on board the combat helicopter Eurocopter Tiger .
- Luftwaffe : as a guided missile on the weapon carrier Ozelot (variant of Wiesel 2)
- Navy : Fliegerfaust squads to protect boats and land facilities. In the German version, the Stinger is used without the special IFF device, which is why the foldable antenna is missing.
The Stingers were built for the German Armed Forces and other countries, including Turkey, at Dornier in Immenstaad .
Switzerland
In 1982 the proposal to introduce the Stinger guided missile system was examined more closely for the first time. However, since the Stinger 'BASIC' was still in need of improvement, we had to wait before purchasing it. Only in 1988/89 did this project come back on the table - with success for the Stinger. The stinger system 'Stinger POST RMP' clearly prevailed against the French Mistral . In 1990 the so-called "Core Stinger Team" was created and sent to New Mexico for tests . The first instructors were trained during this time.
Since it is a tradition in Switzerland not to buy any weapon system, but to manufacture it under license, the Swiss Stingers were manufactured and further developed by RUAG . A total of 3500 guided missiles and around 492 launchers were manufactured. From 1992 the first recruits were trained on the new system. To date, the Lwf-Stinger system is only trained and operated by the Flab 33 teaching association.
In 2000, Switzerland procured an unknown number of AN / PAS-18 Stinger Night Sight (SNS). With this thermal imaging sight , the Stinger system is conditionally suitable for night combat.
As of 2004, the Stinger units will have 30 P-STAR ER mobile surveillance radars from Lockheed-Martin . This has a detection range of up to 35 km and enables airspace monitoring up to a height of 3 km. P-STAR ER weighs 180 kg and can be transported by a Puch-300 or Duro . It takes two men around 45 minutes to set up operational readiness. In the Swiss Army, the radar is called ALERT. The use of the radar device is controversial, because with this easy-to-locate transmitter and the associated locality, the great advantage of the Stinger - its passive seeker head, which protects the shooter from any location - is lost.
Others
The countries in which the FIM-92 Stinger are held or used include: Bahrain , Denmark , Greece , Israel , Italy , Qatar , Kuwait , the Netherlands , Saudi Arabia , Singapore , Taiwan , Chad , Turkey , the USA , Pakistan and Afghanistan .
Web links
- Data sheet of the Bundeswehr for the Fliegerfaust Stinger
- Description at designation-systems.net (English)
- Description Jane's (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Jane's - Raytheon Electronic Systems FIM-92 Stinger low-altitude surface-to-air missile system family , accessed on November 22, 2009
- ↑ GlobalSecurity.org
- ↑ The Shaitan Arba "under fire. Losses and damage to the Mi-24 in Afghanistan ( Memento from March 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Steve Coll: Ghost Wars. Penguin Books, New York 2005, ISBN 0-14-303466-9 .
- ↑ US Army starts upgrade of FIM-92E Stinger Block I missiles. In: army-technology.com. Army Technology, November 2, 2014, accessed August 27, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Charlie Gao: This Stinger Missile Is Back. In: nationalinterest.org. The National Interest, May 18, 2018, accessed August 27, 2018 .
- ↑ Unikatverband anti-aircraft group in full responsibility. In: www.luftwaffe.de. Retrieved August 7, 2016 .
- ^ Trade Register at sipri.org , accessed October 31, 2011