Problems with the production of MANPADS FIM-92 Stinger
Calculation of FIM-92 MANPADS in position
The bulk of foreign weapons and equipment sent to the Kyiv regime as assistance is taken from the bases and warehouses of the active armies. Foreign states are actually disarmed and do not always have the opportunity to replenish supplies weapons. Even the United States faced such a problem: it turned out that they did not have enough FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS and could not organize their production within a reasonable time.
accumulation processes
The latest at that time MANPADS FIM-92 Stinger went into series in the late seventies. Initially, its developer and manufacturer was General Dynamics. After a number of different transformations and transactions, the project was taken over by Raytheon Missiles & Defense, which still owns it.
The first and largest customer of Stinger products was the US military. Through the purchase of tens of thousands of such MANPADS, they re-equipped all the main branches of the armed forces, improved their air defense, and also created a large warehouse stock. The size of the latter and regular purchases of new batches also made it possible to provide assistance to third countries. They were shipped ready-made complexes from the presence. At the same time, American industry often carried out commercial orders from abroad.
At the beginning of the 92s, the Pentagon stopped purchasing FIM-XNUMX due to the complete satisfaction of all the needs of the army. Cash missiles from army warehouses were spent as needed, and were also sent abroad as part of military-technical cooperation. Due to the lack of orders, Raytheon stopped production.
Operator training in virtual reality
Despite the termination of purchases, at least 10-12 thousand Stinger products remained in the US arsenals. Until recently, it was believed that such a volume of accumulated stocks was quite sufficient to ensure the activities of one's troops and, if necessary, to be sent abroad. However, in the tenth years, an opinion appeared about the imminent development of a warranty resource and the need to create a new MANPADS to replace the FIM-92.
Ukrainian problem
In February 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian military operation, official Washington announced that it had sent the first package of military-technical assistance to Ukraine. Together with other weapons, 200 portable Stingers were included in it. In the future, the supply of such complexes continued. The US Army has reportedly handed over at least 1400 systems to the Kyiv regime so far.
Also in February-March last year, a number of NATO countries expressed their readiness to give up their American-made MANPADS. Since then, all of them have collected and shipped only a few hundred MANPADS, almost half as much as the United States. However, the Eastern European states found in their warehouses a large number of similar Soviet-made systems.
Already at the beginning of March 2022, it was reported that 2 FIM-92 MANPADS would be sent to Ukraine through joint efforts. In the future, these plans were implemented and, perhaps, even exceeded. At the same time, the United States gave the Kyiv regime at least 10% of its stocks, while other countries deprived their armies of an even larger share of standard weapons.
Emergency Measures
Already last spring, the Pentagon realized that continued support for the Kyiv regime threatened its own arsenals and, as a result, the armed forces. In this regard, it was decided to start or resume purchases of various weapons, both for their stocks and for shipment to Ukraine.
At the end of April 2022, the American press reported that the Pentagon was looking for opportunities to resume production of Stingers. A corresponding request for information and proposals was sent to enterprises of the military-industrial complex. Soon it was planned to select a contractor and give him a formal order.
Already at the end of May, Raytheon predictably received a contract to resume production and release a new batch of FIM-92 products. Under the terms of the document, the executing company must produce 1500 (according to other sources, 1700) complexes with a total cost of almost $ 700 million. According to last year's estimates, it takes 30 months to restore production. The first batch of finished MANPADS will be handed over to the customer only in the fall of 2023, and the entire order will be completed until 2026.
It was assumed that MANPADS of the new production would go to the US Army and take the place of previously decommissioned and sent abroad products. Further support for the Kyiv regime in this case will be carried out at the expense of old complexes from warehouses. However, it will not be possible to synchronize these processes - new complexes will appear only in the future, and the Kiev regime needs to be supported right now.
Rocket training launch
production drama
Back at the end of April 2022, amid the first reports of the possibility of resuming production of the Stingers, Breaking Defense published an interesting interview with Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes. He revealed the current state of affairs and noted the presence of a number of serious problems.
In the two decades that the Pentagon has not purchased FIM-92, a lot has changed. So, a number of important components of the rocket are obsolete and need to be replaced, for which the project will have to be adjusted. In addition, some supply chains have ceased to exist. Changing the project and resuming cooperation or creating new connections takes time.
In November last year, at one of the industry conferences, Raytheon representatives again spoke about the ongoing work and their results. Thus, the production of solid-propellant engines for rockets was being restored. Due to the overall complexity, these processes are unlikely to be completed before the end of 2023.
At the end of April 2023, Raytheon management again reported on the work performed and the progress achieved. It is said that all necessary efforts are being made and the situation is gradually changing. The company's specialists managed to solve some of the problems in the field of electronics, but so far there is no such progress in the field of casting, forgings and machining.
In June 2023, the head of one of the divisions of Raytheon, Wes Craven, revealed new interesting details of ongoing work. According to him, equipment for the production of MANPADS has to be "taken out of warehouses and blown off the cobwebs." In addition, the company invites former employees to work: retirees over the age of 70 must transfer experience and knowledge to current specialists.
With all this, the problem of obsolescence of components and parts remains. The electronics of the rocket and the launch block must be transferred to a modern element base, but at the same time, radical innovations should be dispensed with. In this case, the updated version of FIM-92 will not have to be carried out through the entire cycle of testing and testing. Accordingly, the pre-production process will be able to meet the appointed 30 months, and the contract will be completed no later than 2026.
Accumulated problems
Thus, a curious situation in the field of arms production has formed and is now developing in the United States. More than a year ago, the Pentagon found out that the available stocks of FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS only meet peacetime requirements, and the production of such weapons has long been closed. At the same time, there was an urgent need to ship a large number of complexes and purchase new products for compensation.
The problem of a shortage of MANPADS was solved in the usual way - by issuing a contract for the production of the required number of products. However, it turned out that the industry could not quickly fulfill such an order. Raytheon has been resuming production of Stingers for more than a year, and so far we are talking only about individual successes.
However, the implementation of the current contract is still a matter of the distant future. Whether the contractor will be able to cope with all the current tasks and resume the production of FIM-92 Stinger products on time is a big question. In addition, the Pentagon and its contractors now have to figure out how such a situation could have arisen, and what needs to be done to eliminate it in the future, and not only in the production of MANPADS. And the success of such an undertaking is not yet guaranteed.
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