POTD: FIM-92 Stinger Man-Portable Air Defense System
Welcome to TFB’s Photo Of The Day series. Every day we show you a selection of pictures and today the location is Jurmalciems in Latvia. We have soldiers assigned to the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment firing the FIM-92 Stinger Man-Portable Air Defense System. The Stinger is an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM), and each missile weighs 22 lb (10.1 kg) with a 6.6 lb (3 kg) warhead.
This happened during Tobruq Arrows which is a joint multinational training exercise with the NATO allies, Latvia and Lithuania.
Below you can see the small ejection motor which gets the missile out to a safe distance from the operator before it engages its two-stage solid-fuel sustainer. This accelerates the Stinger to its maximum speed of Mach 2.54 (750 m/s).
According to Wikipedia, the price for a Stinger is 38,000 USD and it has been in production since 1981.
Below: Tobruq Arrows participants stand in a closing ceremony after four days of training.
Driving a Jeep on the dunes? Below you can see the Avenger air defense system, which is a short-range air defense
Pictures by U.S. Army Sgt. Dommnique Washington, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment,
Have any of our readers ever fired a Stinger? Do let us know below.
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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Very effective weapon against Ferrari Daytona’s.
I've always, always wanted a few Stingers (and Javelins also!) --- It's not that I mean any planes or tanks any harm ... not in the least! It's just you never known when you'll see a Red Dawn-style airdrop of bad guy paratroops over the USA , and you need to pop a cap in an insolent aircraft or armored vehicle. Better to have and not need, than need and not have , that's all I'm saying ;-)