The FIM-92 Stinger is an American man-portable air-defense system MANPADS that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile SAM. It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters as the Air-to-Air Stinger. The FIM-92 Stinger is a passive surface-to-air missile that can be shoulder-fired by a single operator although standard military procedure calls for two operators, team chief and gunner.
source/image: Mscope
The Stinger can acquire the target when the target approaches the operator, giving much more time to acquire and destroy the target. The missile is 1.52 m long and 2.8 in in diameter with 3.9 in fins. The missile itself weighs 10.1 kg, while the missile with its launch tube and integral sight, fitted with a gripstock and Identification friend or foe antenna, weighs approximately 15.2 kg. Waaatch the video from Mscope:
It has a targeting range of up to 4,800 m and can engage low altitude enemy threats at up to 3,800 m.The Stinger is launched by a small ejection motor that pushes it a safe distance from the operator before engaging the main two-stage solid-fuel sustainer, which accelerates it to a maximum speed of Mach 2.54 (750 m/s).
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To fire the missile, a BCU Battery Coolant Uni is inserted into the gripstock. This device consists of a supply of high-pressure gaseous argon which is injected into the seeker to cryogenically cool it to operating temperature, and a thermal battery which provides power for target acquisition: a single BCU provides power and coolant for roughly 45 seconds, after which another must be inserted if the missile has not been fired.
