FIM-92 STINGER

The FIM-92 Stinger is the world's most combat-proven MANPADS, with a strategic impact that changed the course of the Soviet-Afghan War. When 500 Stingers arrived in Afghanistan in 1986, Soviet helicopter gunships that had freely operated at low altitude were suddenly vulnerable — losses spiked, tactics changed, and the psychological effect was devastating to Soviet air superiority. The weapon uses a dual infrared/ultraviolet seeker and proportional navigation to defeat flares and other countermeasures — a significant technical challenge against modern self-protection suites. The Reprogrammable Microprocessor (RMP) variant allows software updates in the field to counter new aircraft signatures. In Ukraine, Stingers contributed to early Russian aviation losses when Russian pilots flew within engagement envelopes during the initial invasion, establishing patterns that degraded Russian close air support throughout the conflict.