Missiles Stinger lately not very actively used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and this is mainly because they are less necessary in a combat situation in which the United States already possess the supremacy in the air. But if ground forces will encounter with almost equal force to the opponent, air force which can compete with the us, then the Stinger missiles will once again become the weapon of choice against helicopters and planes. Given the fact that these missiles can also be used to destroy small drones, we can assume that the Stinger missiles are increasingly applied in scenarios of struggle against insurgents or hybrid war.
According to the developers, well known army Stinger missiles today capable of destroying small, moving drones, use more modern detonators that allow the rocket explosion near the target.
When you launch from Avenger system mounted on a combat machine, Stinger missile destroyed the mini-drones at a distance of over one kilometer, as was equipped with a proximity fuse — the technology used for the detection and destruction of moving and smaller goals than those against whom this weapon was traditionally used.
Tests with live firing, which was first used proximity fuses, took place in April last year at Eglin air force base (Eglin AFB), Florida.
According to the army’s developers, the Stinger missile, which gained fame in a result of their successful use in 1980-ies against Soviet helicopters in Afghanistan to use an infrared guidance head, capable of operating in the ultraviolet range.
For many years these small rocket launch can be done from the shoulder or from a launcher on a fighting machine, used against helicopters and enemy aircraft with fixed wing. In addition, these missiles are capable to destroy the moving mini-drones with a weight of from 2 to 20 pounds. About this magazine Scout Warrior in a special and exclusive interview, Wayne Leonard (Wayne Leonard), a leading developer of systems based on missiles Stinger.
New proximity fuzes use of innovative technologies to expand the capabilities of defeats the purposes of Stinger missiles. They can be equipped with laser range finders, and infrared sensors forward view when launching from the installer Avenger.
“Antenna of this missile is around its warhead, and they are able to transmit a corresponding signal if the missile misses the target. But if it misses its target, it explodes. This antenna picks up movement. Fragments of a warhead having a flying target,” said Leonard.
Since the time of approach and the speed of light is easily determined value, the laser range finder of this system as Avenger is able to use a computer algorithm to determine the exact distance to the goal, said the former chief scientific officer of the army.
“The threats are changing, and today we are, thanks to noncontact fuse that could destroy the smaller drones. The Stinger missile is heat signature. One of the challenges of smaller unmanned aerial vehicles is that they do not create a heat signature that character for helicopters or airplanes with fixed wing,” — said in an interview with the magazine Scout Warrior Colonel Chuck Worsham (Chuck Worshim), head of project on creation of systems to protect against cruise missiles.
These missiles can attack both unprotected and protected targets; they can penetrate the target and then explode, or detonate immediately after the collision with the target, said Worsham. The Stinger missile can be launched separately or be synchronized with other systems using the same technology of control and guidance.
Starting system Avenger mounted on a Humvee vehicle, can conduct Stinger launch rockets and to fire from machine gun 12.7 mm (50 inches) to engage ground and low-flying targets. The range of the Stinger missile is approximately 8 kilometers, and the speed it higher than larger rockets Longbow Hellfire. Hellfire missiles, originally developed as anti-tank weapons have a larger warhead. Today, they are used to kill a wider range of enemy targets.
“When you start with the installation of the Avenger, Stinger missile can receive target data, which are not necessarily in line of sight. Portable installation Stinger can be induced only on the goal, which is line-of-sight,” said Worsham.
Missiles Stinger lately not very actively used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and this is mainly because they are less necessary in a combat situation in which the United States already possess the supremacy in the air. But if ground forces will encounter with almost equal force to the opponent, air force which can compete with the us, then the Stinger missiles will once again become the weapon of choice against helicopters and planes. Given the fact that these missiles can also be used to destroy small drones, we can assume that the Stinger missiles are increasingly applied in scenarios of struggle against insurgents or hybrid war.
