http://www.scribd.com/doc/231824804/Stinger-Missile-Report#scribd
The maximum speed of the Stinger is Mach 2.2 or equivalently 748.64 ms
-1
(2 d.p.). However, the Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles (2002) states that the Stinger
has shown a “top
-speed at motor burnout can be as high as Mach 2.6 for certain trajactories. (
sic
)†This may only be
possible when the Stinger is travelling vertically towards the ground and the force of gravity is increasing its speed. This is unlikely to happen unless the Stinger was fired from an aircraft or was chasing a target which was travelling towards the ground. Consequently, a high speed of Mach 2.6 will be ignored as such trajectories will not be modelled. 1.4 Maximum Range The maximum range is given as 15700 ft. (4800 m) or (or 26000 ft. for the cancelled Stinger-RMP Block II). The value of the maximum range is questionable since calculating it using the flight time average and the Stinger
’s maximum speed gives a different result.
Mean flight time = 17 seconds Maximum Speed = 748.64 ms
-1
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12.7 km is almost triple the stated value of 4.8 km leading to a conclusion that the
stated
range is an estimate based on a dynamic pursuit, or is limited not by the rocket but by another factor. 1.5
Service Ceiling The service ceiling for the Stinger is given as 3800m or 26200 ft which is highly debatable since applying the same argument as given in section 1.3 would show that the Stinger is capable of reaching three times this altitude if fired vertically. An explanation for a this discrepancy could be
due to the Infrared seeker on the missile. “Certain gases in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide and water vapour (sic), absorb energy in the IR frequency spectrum.†Sin
ce the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere alters as the altitude increases, this suggests that the IR seeker aboard the Stinger would have problems detecting a target and so, the target must be within this service ceiling to be able to lock onto it. This leads to the idea that if the Stinger can lock onto the target, it would be able to chase it outside of the maximum range.