Taiwan receives first batch of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles
Taiwan has received the first batch of FIM-92 Stinger air defense missiles from the United States as part of a $500 million military aid package.
The weapons arrived at Taoyuan International Airport late last week on a Boeing 747 cargo plane.
The Stinger missiles were supposed to be delivered at an earlier date, but the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has delayed the process, according to the Taipei Times. These portable and shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft weapons are among the most requested weapons on the Eastern Front in anti-aircraft and anti-helicopter function.
The Taiwanese military already uses several variants of the Stinger, including the dual-ended Stinger, the Humvee-mounted Avenger weapon system, and the air-launched configuration for Apache attack helicopters. However, the Lom Stinger is an old weapon, designed starting from the sixties, in production since the eighties
The Stinger missile
Developed by Raytheon Missiles & Defense, the Stinger missile is a lightweight, self-contained air defense system designed for rapid deployment by ground troops.
It can be fired by a single operator, but military units often use a spotter for faster and more accurate target identification.
Compared to the Redeye missiles that preceded it, the Stinger has greater speed and range, with a range of eight kilometers (4.9 miles). Currently it is in turn being replaced by the SHORAD whose production has been financed since 2024 and which will be present in 10,000 specimens from 2027.
The production of the new missile has become necessary since a huge number of weapons have been sent to Ukraine, emptying American depots. At this point we might as well fill them with the most up-to-date version.
It is also capable of identifying friendly air vehicles and uses infrared homing to track and follow targets.
The Taiwanese military is expected to use the Stinger missile system against low-flying Chinese aircraft in the event of an invasion. Their sending will certainly increase diplomatic tension between Beijing and Washington
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The article Taiwan receives first batch of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/taiwan-riceve-il-primo-lotto-di-missili-antiaerei-stinger/ on Wed, 31 May 2023 07:00:35 +0000.