America’s Stinger Missile Stockpile Is Depleting?

US Stinger man-portable missile – Photo: REUTERS

The Pentagon has not ordered a new Stinger missile in about 18 years. US Defense Department officials are also concerned about the “draining” stockpile of Stinger missiles.

Currently, the US military has limited use of its stockpile of Stinger missiles while waiting for the development of the next generation of “mobile air defense systems”.

Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell said the Stinger production line was closed in December 2020. Since then Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) Aviation and Defense Company has won a contract in July 2021 to produce more Stinger missiles, but mainly for countries around the world.

Meanwhile, according to news site The DriveGreg Hayes, Raytheon’s chief executive officer, said in a press conference on the morning of April 26 (local time): “Due to supply chain difficulties, Raytheon Technologies was unable to rapidly manufacture additional components. The Stinger man-portable air defense system is landing in Ukraine against Russia.”

“We are currently producing Stinger rockets for an international customer. At the same time, the stock of materials for Stinger production is also very limited,” said Mr. Greg Hayes.

Mr. Hayes said the company had been working with the Department of Defense “for the past few weeks” to fix the problem.

Adding another difficulty, Stinger rockets are mostly handmade products. While most of Raytheon’s workforce is trained to build more advanced systems like the Tomahawk cruise missile or the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile. Breaking Defense.

It looks like adding Stinger missiles to the stockpile will be a challenge.

Concerned about the ability to produce Stinger man-portable missiles, on April 7, Senator Richard Blumenthal questioned the need for President Joe Biden to enact the Defense Production Act.

“In order to produce more Stinger and Javelin missiles – while all the stocks we use are dwindling and running out, and our allies are also running out – should we adopt the Product Act? defense?” Blumenthal asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a Senate Defense Committee budget hearing on April 7.

“We’re working hard to get into the arms industry to ensure production is as fast as possible. Of course, this task is not easy,” Mr. Austin replied.