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Posted on 04/28/2022 5:27:00 AM PDT by FarCenter
It will be years before Raytheon Technologies can build new Stinger shoulder-fired missiles due to a dwindling supply of weapons parts, the company’s CEO said Tuesday.
The U.S. has shipped Stingers to Ukraine’s military, which has used them to shoot down Russian aircraft. But there’s only a finite supply as Raytheon has not made Stinger missiles for the U.S. military in nearly two decades.
“We're going to have to go out and redesign some of the electronics in the missile and the seeker head,” Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investment analysts Tuesday during the company’s quarterly earnings call. “That's going to take us a little bit of time.”
The company has “a very limited stock of material for Stinger production,” Hayes said, as it's currently building a missile for a sole international customer.
A sling shots require a NFA license.
Read...... the stingers are for export customers
Stinger has two shots, can only Lock on to vehicles (Killstreak rewards), and it locks on hella fast.
Javelin has one shot, can hit vehicles (with a slower lock on) and locations, allowing you to essentially have a Predator missile in a launcher. Also, with the launcher glitch, it makes a big boom.
I sooner suspect Raytheon has had project and funding cut due to Gov. deciding they have an oversupply of missiles. And this is their play to get back in the game and get new contracts.
The Stinger missile IS in our arsenal. We gave a bunch of them out of our inventory to Ukraine, and Raytheon is saying they can't manufacture replacements for a few years.
The lone export customer that they're building Stingers for now also provided Raytheon with key components that Raytheon can't source.
The last time the United States purchased Stinger missiles was in 2004...
🤣🤨 No!
“Biden administration surely would keep an adequate supply for ourselves?”
Sure, just like the strategic oil reserve.
And so?
It’s a corporation. What other motive should it have?
Our military facing a shortage of defense armaments like Stinger missiles?
Democrats are always happy when one of their plans comes together like this.
If Raytheon plays coy, and hard to get; drop ‘em! Give Elon Musk a call. He’ll supply them, with improved performance features.
+1
Are you suggesting that Raytheon should have a “social conscience”?
Shoulder launched missiles are a growth industry. If stingers are not being built (btw it’s a 45 year old design), something else is.
BINGO!!! Funny how Defense Industrial Base works.
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In China, Xi reads this, nods, smiles...
Yes; the whole arsenal. It sounds like a joke, but it isn’t. The US model is to create air dominance, that is, no enemy aircraft in the sky to bother the tanks and infantry. That means blasting their airfields, radar and SAMs, and promptly shooting down any of their aircraft that still dare to take off, using everything from AWACS, Patriot missiles, much better fighters, etc. all in an integrated air defense system.
Stingers were created for a scenario which in US planning should no longer exist, where the US has not gained air dominance and ground units needed their own air defense assets. That was a plausible scenario way back in the 1980’s when the Soviets had thousands of active aircraft available for battles in Germany.
But that situation simply went away. The US (and NATO) was left unchallenged in the air. Stingers didnt get much use in Iraq in 1991 or 2003. And if the Russians pick a fight with NATO now the betting is still that the US will remain unchallenged, and the Stingers will remain redundant.
It will be even more years before the Russians can build any targets for the missiles to hit.
Xi’s problem is the US Navy and USAF, and they dont use Stingers. The last thing the Chinese need to worry about are manpads.
The Stinger Block 1 missiles in the U.S. inventory are undergoing a Service Life Upgrade currently. No more Stingers will be manufactured for U.S. forces because a replacement program is underway at this time for a new missile with extended range and improved targeting. The first of the new missiles should be tested next year and first production is scheduled for 2004.
So there are improved Stingers in use now for U.S. forces and a better missile is in the works.
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