veteran’s corner
Tom Krabbenhoft
This week and next, I’m fairly excited about the subject matter as it’s near and dear to me. The stinger missile. I spent several years with this weapon system, in many capacities.
The Stinger is a shoulder fired anti-aircraft missile, it weighs 43 pounds and guided by an infrared (heat seeking) fire and forget system, easily manned by one person.
Aptly named, this stinger is DEADLY as any aircraft it stings, dies.
The stinger and the Russians have a long history. It was the stinger missile that changed the war for Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 80’s. The Stinger took air superiority away and balanced the ground war eventually tipping the war in favor of the Afghans.
Why? The lack of roads and mountainous terrain made air operations a must in Afghanistan. Resupply, deployment of troops and aerial reconnaissance were all taken away from the Russians. They became bogged down with extended supply lines, demoralized troops and world opinion against them. Hmmmm? Sounds just like Ukraine now. That old adage of history repeats itself and holds true.
If you examine what happened in both Afghanistan and Ukraine operationally they mirror each other. Airstrikes obviously should be accurate to be effective. One thing the stinger does is force aircraft up to higher altitudes and speed. The increase of either one of these will reduce accuracy of airstrikes. When this happens, collateral damage occurs and we’ve seen it already in the Ukraine. Believe me; it’s of NO strategic value to bomb a hospital as has recently occurred. But sadly these things happen.
The Stinger also can defend a position or asset from aircraft.
Follow me here please. Take a dime and place it on a surface. Place a quarter directly over the dime. The dime is what you are defending from air attack. The quarter represents a single stinger missile coverage of protection. Now, take four quarters and place around the dime and quarter you have placed down. This would represent five stinger missiles of coverage around the dime. Note how well the quarters have covered the dime. Now take extra quarters and place them in the direction an attack is likely. This simplistic layout is basically how a stinger is deployed. These multiple circles of protection must be pierced before an aircraft can attack.
If the pilot decides to use nap of the earth flying (low altitude hugging the terrain) they expose themselves to small arms fire. Every soldier SHOULD know all weapons are anti-aircraft. Now you know the danger a Russian pilot faces. Multiply the fact that thousands of stingers are being sent to the Ukrainians.
The portability, simplicity of use and ease of deployment and a current 93% accuracy makes it the perfect weapon the Ukrainians need.
Next week I will dive into the stinger a bit more and illustrate deploying, drawbacks and how it affects areas we never thought of. It may lead to Putin’s demise.
Comments, veteran’s issues, highlight a veteran, contact me at 11btwk@gmail.com.