It would not surprise me if we have a microchip in the Stingers which will allow us to disable them if fired at U.S. aircraft. I have no technical knowledge of this but it was discussed a few years ago on a bulletin board.
>It would not surprise me if we have a microchip in the Stingers which will allow us to disable them if fired at U.S. aircraft.
I've heard that stuff like this, including mines, now are desiged with a limited shelf life, but not then.
New Stingers now have IFF to avoid hitting allied planes, provided they are both set to the same code. Don't know what the shelf life of the batteries or fuel is either, but the Chinese/Russians/North Koreans et al probably would have gladly upgraded or refurbed the ones they still have.
Stinger Missile