The U.S. Dept. of Defense awarded a $624.6 million contract update for the U.S. Army to acquire 1,468 Stinger missiles from Raytheon Missile Systems, to replenish the current stockpile of the shoulder-fired air-defense weapons. Reuters cited a Pentagon source indicating the Army must replace supplies of Stinger missiles that have been supplied to Ukraine defense forces since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Reportedly, the U.S. has supplied about 1,400 Stinger missiles to Ukraine since late February. The shoulder-fired missiles have been effective for Ukrainian forces versus Russian helicopters, airplanes, and drones.
Similarly, earlier in May the U.S. Army awarded two contracts totaling $309 million to a Raytheon-Lockheed joint venture to produce over 1,300 of the Javelin portable anti-tank weapons that have been supplied to Ukrainian defense forces.
Stinger missiles are portable weapons that function as infrared homing surface-to-air missiles. They can be fired from the ground or from a helicopter, and have been in service since 1981 with the U.S. Army and defense forces in numerous other countries.
According to the Pentagon, Raytheon halted Stinger production at the end of 2020, but it in July 2021 it was awarded a new contract to manufacture Stingers for non-U.S. customers.
