Video Analysis: Stinger Anti-Aircraft Missiles from Germany to Destroy Russian Helicopters

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Germany’s decision to send Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine could prove to be extremely impactful for resistance fighters likely to face large numbers of Russia’s force of 544 attack helicopters. 

Stinger Anti-Aircraft Missiles

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged to fast-track 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles to Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invasion, according to a recent essay from Jeff Rathke, President of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. 

The Stinger missile, made famous by its successful attacks against Soviet helicopters in Afghanistan in the 1980s, uses an infrared seeker with an ultraviolet capability. Over the years, the small missile – which can be shoulder fired or fired from a vehicle-mounted launcher – has been used to attack helicopters, fixed-wing enemy aircraft and other large targets.

In recent years, the US Army has massively upgraded the Stinger missile to improve guidance, fire it from Stryker vehicles and add a “proximity” fuse to enable the weapon to kill small moving drones in addition to helicopters and lower-flying fixed wing aircraft. 

Following several key Army and Raytheon upgrades several years ago, Stinger missile has been able to destroy small, moving drones using a newer proximity fuze to detonate near a target. This could prove effective against a possible Russian drone swarm seeking to close down on a civilian population or function as a collection of mini projectiles to increase lethality. 

Firing with a range of approximately 8 kilometers, the Stinger is faster than its larger counterpart, the Longbow Hellfire missile. Hellfire missiles, initially conceived of as anti-tank weapons, have a larger warhead. They are also now used for a wider range of enemy targets.

Firing from a vehicle-mounted Avenger System as far back as several years ago, a Stinger missile fired in a US Army test destroyed a mini-drone more than one kilometers away using a proximity fuse – technology used to find and hit moving targets that are smaller than what the weapon has traditionally been used for.