Article Posted on : - Apr 02, 2015

TUCSON, ARIZONA (BNS): Raytheon Company has signed a $35 million contract to deliver Stinger missiles and air-to-air launchers to the Republic of Korea Army in support of their recent procurement of AH-64 Apache helicopters.

Under the previously announced foreign military sale, Raytheon will begin deliveries of the Stinger weapon systems in 2017, Raytheon said in a statement.

According to Raytheon, Stinger-RMP (reprogrammable microprocessor) Blk 1, the current production version of Stinger, has maintained a greater than 90 percent success rate in reliability and training tests against advanced threat targets.

The combination of supersonic speed, agility, highly accurate guidance and control system, and lethal warhead gives Stinger the operational edge against all classes of helicopters, UAVs, cruise missiles, and fixed-wing aircraft, it said.

In service in 19 countries, Stinger not only has a surface-to-air capability from land and sea, but also an air-to-air capability that can be integrated into most fixed- or rotary-wing platforms.

"Stinger provides vital self-protection capabilities as well as defensive counter-air protection of aviation and ground forces," said Michelle Lohmeier, vice president of Raytheon's Land Warfare Systems product line.

"Most importantly, Stinger operates day and night, in all environmental conditions and allows for the engagement of multiple targets within seconds."

"With the emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles in the battlespace and the key role of helicopters, the evolved technology of air-to-air Stinger is easily adapted to defeat evolving threats," said Jack Elliot, Raytheon's Stinger programme director.

"Stinger is an immediate- response weapon of choice against a wide range of air threats for protection of both fixed sites and maneuver forces."