• NATO has signed a nearly $700 million contract to have member countries produce more Stinger missiles.

• The Stinger is a portable surface-to-air defence system that can be carried and fired by troops or mounted to a vehicle and used as short-range defence against aircraft. 

• The Raytheon-produced system was one of the first weapons the US shipped to Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion.

• The shoulder-fired Stinger missiles have been in hot demand in Ukraine, where they have successfully stopped Russian assaults from the air, and in neighbouring European countries which fear they may also need to beat back Russian forces.

• Stinger not only has a surface-to-air capability from land and sea, but also an air-to-air capability that can be integrated into most fixed or rotary-wing platforms.

• It can be launched from a number of platforms including the shoulder-launched Man-Portable Air Defence System (MANPADS) and Apache helicopter.

• The Stinger missile is launched by a small launch motor that pushes it a safe distance from the operator before engaging the main flight motor, both solid propellant rocket motors

• Its supersonic speed, agility and a highly accurate guidance and control system give the weapon an operational edge against cruise missiles. 

• The ‘fire-and-forget’ missile employs a passive infrared seeker to home in on its airborne target.

• The surface-to-air version of the Stinger missile is widely credited for the collapse of Russian helicopter fleet in Afghan war in the 1980s and was also used by Pakistani troops to bring down an IAF Mi-17 helicopter during the Kargil war in 1999.

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