Stinger Missiles To Ukraine
The Ukrainian government announced the receipt of US-made Stinger missiles to Ukraine from Lithuania on Sunday.
And Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov confirmed today, Sunday, that these missiles arrived with other military equipment as part of a new package of military aid on board a plane that landed at Borispol airport near Kiev.
Reznikov reminded that the first military aid package from Lithuania against the backdrop of the current escalation over Ukraine arrived in Kiev last December.
The number of missiles received by the Ukrainian government was not disclosed.
The United States had issued waivers allowing the Baltic states to hand over American weapons in their forces’ possession to the Kiev government, citing the risk of a “Russian invasion” of Ukraine.
About Stinger missiles
The FIM-92 Stinger is a man-portable air-defense system that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile. It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles and helicopters.
The Stinger missile is something that appears in the news every time there is an armed conflict involving United States forces. It also appears after certain airline accidents — the one involving TWA flight 800 is a recent example.
The reason we hear so much about the Stinger in these contexts is because the Stinger missile is an extremely effective weapon for shooting down aircraft. The missile uses an infrared seeker to lock on to the heat in the engine’s exhaust, and will hit nearly anything flying below 11,000 feet.
