ATAS (AIM-92)

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Description

The AIM-92 Stinger missile with fins folded and deployed (scale is approximate)


The AIM-92 Stinger is an American infrared homing air-to-air missile. It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision". It is a helicopter-mounted variant of the well known FIM-92 Stinger fire-and-forget shoulder-fired anti-air missile.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the missile.

Effective damage

Describe the type of damage produced by this type of missile (high explosive, splash damage, etc)

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of missiles that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

This missile is designed with helicopter-based air to air combat in mind, with an emphasis on defence against strafing attacks by jets. The Stinger allows the helicopter to counterattack an aircraft that is quickly closing in, usually destroying or crippling it before it can fire. It is also useful against other helicopters, and its longer lock-on range than most IR missiles will give it a competitive advantage.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Best lock-on range of all helicopter IR missiles
  • All-aspect tracking

Cons:

  • Worse tracking than other missiles of its class
  • Abysmal explosive mass compared to contemporaries

History

Stinger Development

In the 1960s, the US military's standard man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) was the FIM-43 Redeye, a missile launcher developed by Convair/Ponoma. However, the Redeye missiles were deemed to be too slow, unmaneouverable, and could not distinguish its target source well enough to be an effective anti-aircraft weapon.[1] A program for an improved missile was launched in 1967, titled Redeye II. This new missile program was part of the Advanced Sensor Development Program, which sought to give the man-portable missile an all-aspect seeking capability. By 1971, Redeye II was chosen as the next standard MANPADS missile, and was given the designation FIM-92. The name of the program was eventually changed in March 1972 into the Stinger.[2]

A US Army Sergeant shoulders a FIM-92 Stinger.

The contract to develop the missiles went to General Dynamics in June 1972.[1] The first tests with the missiles began in November 1973, though technical problems caused delays that the first missile was only fired shoulder-launched in 1975.[2] The Stinger Production Qualification Test-Government (PQT-G) began in April 1976.[3] The PQT-G concluded in 1977, and resulted in a mass production contract in April 1978 for General Dynamics to produce the FIM-92A Stinger missiles. The missiles reached the US military, where the Stinger missiles reached IOC (Initial Operational Capability) status in February 1981, resulting in the Stinger's steady replacement of all other MANPADS in service. The basic model, the FIM-92A, featured a cooled conical-scan IR seeker that allowed all-aspect acquisition and homing abilities as well as a AN/PPX-1 Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) system.[1]

Improvements into the FIM-92 stingers led to succeeding variants. The FIM-92B started development in 1977. It is also known as Stinger-POST (Passive Optical Seeker Technique) and featured an improved IR/UV seeker to better distinguish countermeasures. The next version, the FIM-92C began development in 1984 and was named as Stinger-RMP (Reprogrammable MicroProcessor). Introducing a new microprocessor that was reprogrammable, the Stinger-RMP allowed the Stinger platform to adapt to new threats and countermeasures without requiring a new missile design. The Stinger-RMP became the basis of the succeeding FIM-92D to G variants, which featured various improvements on the Stinger-RMP capabilities.[1]

ATAS

An ATAS armament arrangement on the stub-wing of a EC-665 Tiger UHT.

During the 1980s, around when the improved Stinger-RMP models became operational, these missiles were used as a basis for air-to-air weapons on aerial mounts. These adapted missiles are officially recognized as ATAS (Air To Air Stinger). The missiles were initially designed and mounted onto OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopters for self-defence against enemy air targets.[4] Though the Stinger is sometimes referred to as AIM-92 in the air configuration, it has been suggested that this naming is unofficial and that the ATAS is still referred as a FIM-92.[2]

As with the standard Stinger-RMP, the ATAS were also upgraded in similar fashion. The first was the Block I modification which introduced improvements such as the removal of the need to "super-elevate" the missile (the additional elevation angle added to the missile's line-of-sight).[5] The second improvement was the Block II modification which introduced a new seeker, a new battery, and advanced signal processing capabilities. These upgrades aim at improving the missile's shelf life, missile accuracy, night-fighting capability, and IRCCM capability.[1]

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

  • reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
  • references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

References
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Pike and Sherman 2000
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Parsch 2005
  3. Army Technology "Stinger Man-Portable Air Defence System (MANPADS)"
  4. Lawrence et al. 1988, pg 1
  5. GlobalSecurity.org "Chapter 3: Firing the Stinger"
Bibliography
  • Lawrence, John S, et al. Preliminary Airworthiness Evaluation of the AH-64A Equipped with the Air To Air Stinger (ATAS) Missile System. Defense Technical Information Center, December 1988.
  • Army Technology. "Stinger Man-Portable Air Defence System (MANPADS)." Army Technology, Verdict Media Limited, Website. Accessed 07 Apr. 2021 (Web Archive).
  • GlobalSecurity.org "Chapter 3: Firing the Stinger" Global Security, Website. Accessed 07 Apr. 2021 (Web Archive).
  • Parsch, Andreas. "FIM-92" Designation Systems, 14 Feb. 2005, Website. Accessed 07 Apr. 2021 (Web Archive).
  • Pike, John; Sherman, Robert. "FIM-92A Stinger Weapons System: RMP & Basic." Federation of American Scientists - Military Analysis Network, 09 Aug. 2000, Website. Accessed 07 Apr. 2021 (Web Archive).


Missiles
USA 
AAM  AIM-54A Phoenix · AIM-54C Phoenix · ATAS (AIM-92)
Sparrow  AIM-7C · AIM-7D · AIM-7E · AIM-7E-2 · AIM-7F · AIM-7M
Sidewinder  AIM-9B · AIM-9C · AIM-9D · AIM-9E · AIM-9G · AIM-9H · AIM-9J · AIM-9L · AIM-9M · AIM-9P
AGM  AGM-22 · APKWS II (M151) · APKWS II (M282) · BGM-71D TOW-2
Bullpup  AGM-12B Bullpup · AGM-12C Bullpup
Hellfire  AGM-114B Hellfire · AGM-114K Hellfire II
Maverick  AGM-65A · AGM-65B · AGM-65D
ATGM  LOSAT/MGM-166A
TOW  BGM-71 · BGM-71A · BGM-71B · BGM-71C
SAM  FIM-92 Stinger · MIM-72 · MIM146
Naval SAM  RIM-24A
Germany 
AAM  AIM-9B FGW.2 Sidewinder · Flz Lwf 63/80
AGM  9M14M Malyutka · Flz Lwf LB 82 · HOT-1 · HOT-2 TOW · HOT-3 · PARS 3 LR
AShM  AS.34 Kormoran
ATGM  HOT-K3S
SAM  Roland
USSR 
AAM  9M39 Igla · R-3R · R-3S · R-13M1 · R-23R · R-23T · R-24R · R-24T · R-27ER(1) · R-27ET(1) · R-27R(1) · R-27T(1) · R-60 · R-60M · R-60MK · R-73(E)
AGM  9K127 Vikhr · 9M17M Falanga · 9M120 Ataka · 9M120-1 Ataka
  Kh-23M · Kh-25 · Kh-25ML · Kh-29L · Kh-29T · Kh-29TE · Kh-29TD · Kh-66 · S-25L
ATGM  3M7 · 9M14 · 9M113 Konkurs · 9M114 Shturm · 9M123 Khrizantema · 9M133 · 9M133FM3 · 9M133M-2
SAM  95Ya6 · 9M311 · 9M311-1M · 9M331 · 9M37M
Naval SAM  Volna-M
Britain 
AAM  Fireflash · Firestreak · Red Top · Skyflash · Skyflash SuperTEMP · SRAAM
AGM  AS.12 · ZT-6 Mokopa
AShM  AJ.168
ATGM  BAe Swingfire · MILAN · MILAN 2 · ZT3
SAM  Starstreak
Japan 
AAM  AAM-3
AGM  Ki-148 I-Go Model 1B
ATGM  Type 64 MAT · Type 79 Jyu-MAT
SAM  Type 81 SAM-1C · Type 91
China 
AAM  PL-2 · PL-5B · PL-5C · PL-7 · PL-8 · TY-90
AGM  AKD-9 · AKD-10 · HJ-8A · HJ-8C · HJ-8E · HJ-8H
ATGM  302 · HJ-73 · HJ-73E · HJ-9 · QN201DD · QN502CDD
SAM  HN-6
Italy 
AAM  Aspide-1A
AGM  CIRIT · L-UMTAS · Spike ER
ATGM  Spike-LR2MR
Naval AShM  Nettuno
SAM  Mistral SATCP
France 
AAM  AA-20 Nord · Matra R511 · Matra R530 · Matra R530E · Matra Super 530D · Matra Super 530F · Matra R550 Magic 1 · Matra R550 Magic 2 · Mistral
AGM  9M14-2 Malyutka-2 · AS-20 Nord · AS-30 Nord · AS-30L Nord · HOT-1 · HOT-2 TOW · HOT-3 · Spike ER
ATGM  HOT · SS.11
SAM  Roland · VT1
Sweden 
AAM  RB24 · RB24J · RB71 · RB 74 · RB 74(M)
AGM  Rb05A · RB 53 Bantam · RB 55B Heli TOW · RB 55C Heli TOW · RB 75
ATGM  Rbs 55 · Rbs 56
SAM  Rbs 70
Israel 
AAM  Shafrir · Shafrir 2 · Python 3
ATGM  Spike-MR
  AAM = Air-to-Air Missile   AGM = Air-to-Ground Missile   AShM = Anti-Ship Missile   ATGM = Anti-Tank Guided Missile (Ground mounts)   SAM = Surface-to-Air Missile