How well trained must a person be to hit an F-16 at strafing speed with a Stinger?
Are Stingers Laser/Fly-by-wire/IR or just old “Canon EOS”, AKA: point and shoot?
Range is 3 miles, max speed in Mach 2.2.
I think the training needed is probably minimal.
Also, laser guided with low frequency — theoretically, the target does not get warned of a missile lock. So, when you get blown out of the sky, it’s a surprise.
Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIM-92_Stinger
Also, the battery coolant unit is critical, called a BCU for because it also provides the seeker cooling.
~How well trained must a person be to hit an F-16 at strafing speed with a Stinger?
Are Stingers Laser/Fly-by-wire/IR or just old “Canon EOS”, AKA: point and shoot?~
In fact it is a no-brainer to take out a jet with Stinger or similar East-bloc system.
Especially F-16 which is a single engine after-burning aircraft. It has an ideal thermal signature for such a weaponry to lock-on and it certainly won’t make it after getting a single warhead into engine.
Dedicated groung attack platforms like A-10 or Sukhoi-25 are less vulnerable because they are armored, twin-engine and their motors aren’t burning at such a rate but still Manpads are advanced enough to lock on it and they are slow enough to get multiple hits while loitering over target.