Raytheon To Supply US Army With Enhanced Stinger Missiles For Counter-Drone Missions

Raytheon has won a contract to supply the US Army with enhanced Stinger missiles retrofitted with proximity fuzes to help counter the growing threat of enemy unmanned aircraft systems, the company announced Tuesday.

The enhancement enables the lightweight, self-contained Stinger air defense system to destroy a wider array of battlefield threats by detonating its warhead near the target, while maintaining the missile's proven hit-to-kill capability. The Stinger is equipped with a reprogrammable microprocessor for tracking threats. In addition to air defense, the weapon has also been integrated with rotary-wing aircraft for air-to-air engagements.

"The Stinger enhancement gives our troops exactly what they need – an affordable and effective way to defeat the growing number of enemy UAS targets in the skies above the battlefield," said Sam Deneke, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president.

The Army completed qualification testing on the new proximity fuze and will begin delivering the enhanced Stinger missile to soldiers later this year.