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Turkey & Stinger MANPADS Missile Procurement

Date: Issue 101 - November 2020

As it may be recalled, within the scope of the Stinger Air Defense Guided Missile System European Common Production Program in which Turkey is the largest participant with 40.5%, 4.800+ Stinger missiles were supplied in the first phase for the Armed Forces and the propulsion system of Stinger, consisting of launching and flight motors, which was manufactured by Roketsan at its facilities. As part of the Stinger European Common Production Program, the Guidance Kit, which also includes the IR/UV Seekers, was produced by Aselsan. The Stinger Guidance Kit consists of Guidance Electronics and Seekers.

Roketsan started deliveries in the second half of 1991 under the Stinger European Common Production Program, which was realized under the license obtained from the U.S. Government in 1988, and until December 1999, 12,692 Stinger propulsion systems were delivered to the Main Contractor Consortium, Dornier. For the additional Stinger requirement of the Ministry of National Defense (MoND), approximately 1,000 additional Stinger needs were identified in July 2000 and the deliveries were completed in 2003 under the additional agreement signed in 2001.

In order to replace the Stinger missiles used in recent cross-border operations in Syria, efforts were initiated by the MoND Foreign Procurement Department in the first half of 2020 to procure 250 Stingers from the U.S. According to the information we have obtained, it is considered that this procurement may not be necessary due to the suspension of the operation in Syria and the fact that the budget allocation for such subsequent requirement has not been made previously, and due to the SUNGUR System’s reaching the delivery stage. But yet, it is necessary for Turkey to place an order for the additional 250 Stingers by October 2020, in order to take part in the order of the U.S. Government through the FMS, which plans to sign a contract for the supply of the Stinger with Raytheon in December 2020. The order is expected to include the newest version of the Stinger missile, the FIM-92J MANPADS model equipped with a new warhead with proximity fuse, target detection units (against drones/UAVs), new flight motor and gas generator cartridge.

Under the Stinger European Common Production Program, FIM-92A Stinger Basic, FIM-92B Stinger POST (Passive Optical Seeker Head), FIM-92C Stinger RMP and FIM-92D / E Stinger RMP Block 1 models were produced by the European Stinger Project Group. In addition to the IR-guided Stinger Basic, Stinger POST with IR + UV detectors and the programmable Stinger RMP (Reprogrammable Microprocessor) models according to future threats, I consider that a certain number of Stinger RMP Block 1 model missiles are in the inventory of the Land Forces Command. The Stinger RMP Block 1 missile, which was began production under the Stinger European Common Production Program in 1998, has a ring laser gyro-based roll frequency sensor and a lithium battery.

The Stinger Weapon System, which is a 3rd generation MANPADS with a Passive IR/UV Seeker (on the seeker having 'rosette scan' type scanning pattern, there is a UV detector in addition to an IR detector), consists of Missile Launching, Internal Communication Cable, IFF Interrogator, Battery Coolant Unit, Detachable Gripstock and Reprogrammable Micro Processor. In the Fire-and-Forget type missile, which has a warhead of 3 kg, the seeker is cooled by Argon gas. In open sources, the FIM-92C Stinger RMP Missile System is said to have an effective range of 6 km, a maximum range of 8 km (if the missile does not hit the target, the time clock will detonate the warhead at the end of the 17th second and thus the missile destructs itself), a maximum engagement height of 4.8 km, has a weight of 15.73 kg (the weight of the missile is 10.13 kg), a length of 1.52 m, a diameter of 70 mm and a flight speed of Mach 2.2+ (the missile's maximum speed is claimed to reach Mach 2.6 for a few seconds during flight). The shelf life of the Stinger Missile is said to be 10 years in open sources. Unlike the Stinger Basic model, the Stinger RMP missiles in the inventory of the Land Forces Command do not have IFF equipment.

Under the contract signed with Aselsan on November 9, 2001 within the scope of the Pedestal Mounted Stinger (PMS) Project, which was initiated to meet the Low Altitude Air Defense System requirement of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), 70 Atılgan (8 ready-to-fire Stinger Missiles mounted on M-113A2 ZPT and) and 88 Zıpkın PMS (4 ready-to-fire Stinger Missiles mounted on the Land Rover Defender 130 TTA) were procured and entered the TAF’s service. PMS Systems have the capability to operate on the Air Defense Early Warning and Command Control System (HERİKKS). It is expected that the National MANPADS PORSAV will be integrated into the PMS Systems and Attack Helicopters in the TAF inventory.