TSAMTO, March 13. Next year, the US Military Command plans to begin implementing a program to replace the Stinger MANPADS, which has been in service for a long time and is considered obsolete, Breaking Defense reported.
As Douglas Bush, the Deputy Secretary of the US Army for Procurement, Logistics and Technology, told the publication, the command intends to work out the Stinger replacement program with the US Congress in 2024 and begin its implementation.
It is expected that data on the next-generation Stinger MANPADS procurement program, including the development schedule and budget, will become available in the near future. The US Air Defense Command revealed some of its plans last year when it published a request for information on a new anti-aircraft guided missile for the third stage of the short-range mobile air defense system delivery program (M-SHORAD Inc 3). As it was stated at the time, the available stocks of "Stinger" are declining. Therefore, the US Navy intended to start designing, developing and testing a new missile in 2023, which will allow the release of 10 thousand M-SHORAD Inc 3 missiles, starting in 2027.
Although the US Army Command has probably adjusted the schedule since the publication of the request in April 2022, in general, the army is looking for a portable complex with a greater destructive capability than the existing Stinger missile (with a remote fuse). This promising missile will be used with a universal portable launcher (Stinger Vehicle Universal Launcher) to destroy helicopters and airplanes, as well as Group-2 and Group-3 class UAVs.
At the same time as lawmakers are familiarizing themselves with plans to replace the Stinger, plans are being advanced to replenish depleted stocks, partly due to modernization efforts.
Before the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, the US Army and the USMC had not purchased Stinger systems for decades, and the Raytheon production line supplied systems to only one foreign customer. A month after the start of the special operation, members of Congress began to insist that the US military should begin to create a replacement for MANPADS and demanded explanations why it was impossible to quickly increase existing stocks.
Since the Stinger includes a number of components that are no longer manufactured, there are now a finite number of missiles that can be made from available components. For example, in the April (2022) request of the US Army, it was noted that the reprogrammable microprocessor "Stinger" (RMP) will become obsolete this year, and the service life of the "Stinger" Block.1 should be extended.
Douglas Bush said that the command is implementing several measures to resupply the Stinger until the next generation of missiles is adopted. For example, due to the modernization of outdated Stinger missiles, at least 1,200 new missiles can be obtained while simultaneously saving money.
