FIM-92 Stinger

Silhouette (Visual Identification)

Technical Specifications

Category	Portable Launcher of Anti-aircraft Missile Systems
Operating system	MANPAD
Cartridge
Length	mm
Feeding

Its combat debut occurred during the Falklands War. The Stinger was also used by the Afghan Mujahedeen, the Hamas and the UNITA. The Central Intelligence Agency supplied nearly 500 Stingers (some sources claim 1,500–2,000) to the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. After the 1989 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the United States attempted to buy back the Stinger missiles, with a 55 million dollar program to buy back around 300 missiles. The U.S. government collected most of the Stingers it had delivered, but some of them found their way into Iran, Qatar and North Korea.

Global distribution map

Weapon prevalence

Country of origin

Licensed production

Production without a license

Scale dependend aggregation of production sites

The FIM-92 Stinger is found in 37 countries according to our data.

This map is a reflection of data on global distribution and production provided primarily by the BwVC. It is not exhaustive. If you would like to add to or amend the data, please click here.

Global distribution list

The data on global distribution and production is provided primarily by the BwVC, but also from national and regional focal points on SALW control; data published by think tanks, international organizations and experts; and/or data provided by individual researchers on SALW. It is not exhaustive. If you would like to add to or amend the data, please click here.

Symbol legend

	Country of origin
	Licensed production
	Production without a licence

G	Government: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is held by Governmental agencies.
N	Non-Government: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is held by non-Governmental armed groups.
U	Unspecified: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is found in the country, but do not specify whether it is held by Governmental agencies or non-Governmental armed groups.

It is entirely possible to have a combination of tags beside each country. For example, if country X is tagged with a G and a U, it means that at least one source of data identifies Governmental agencies as holders of weapon type Y, and at least one other source confirms the presence of the weapon in country X without specifying who holds it.

Afghanistan (AFG)		N
Angola (AGO)		G N
Bangladesh (BGD)		G
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH)		G
Bulgaria (BGR)		U
Chad (TCD)		G
Chile (CHL)		G
Colombia (COL)		G
Croatia (HRV)		G
Denmark (DNK)		G