On January 22, 2018, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry announced that Taiwanese armed forces will take delivery of some 250 FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS (Man-portable air-defense systems) missiles later this year. The FIM-92 Stinger is a short-range surface-to-air defense missile ystem that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile.
A U.S. soldier assigned to 2d Cavalry Regiment rehearses firing Stinger Missiles in preparation for firing live Stinger Missiles on the last day of exercise Artemis Strike in Crete, an island along the coast of Greece, November 8, 2017. (Picture source US MoD)
On January 25, 2018, U.S. government has announced that the American Company Raytheon Missiles Systems has been awarded a foreign and domestic contract for services in support of the Stinger weapon system.
The Stinger for the Taiwanese armed forces will be delivered to marine infantry battalions units and Navy’s Guang Hua VI-class fast attack boats and Tuo Jiang-class corvettes to give them air defense capabilities, Taipei Times reported, citing a source from the Taiwanese Defense Ministry.
The "fire-and-forget" Stinger FIM-92 missile employs a passive infrared seeker to home in on its airborne target. A passive infrared seeker emits no radiation that a target aircraft can detect, and, instead, guides on the infrared energy (heat) emitted by the target.
The Stinger missile can hit targets flying as high as 3,500 m, and has a range of around 8 km. Stinger missiles use passive IR/UV sensors. The missiles look for the infrared light (heat) produced by the target airplane's engines and track the airplane by following that light. The missiles also identify the UV "shadow" of the target and use that identification to distinguish the target from other heat-producing objects.
