Raytheon integrates Stinger missile with armored vehicle

Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Raytheon reports it has integrated and demonstrated a Stinger air defense system mounted onto a Striker armored fighting vehicle.

The integration was in response to the U.S. Army's urgent need for mobile air defense for ground troops.

The Stinger system was incorporated into the vehicles' Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station and successfully intercepted airborne targets late last month at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

"With so many airborne threats in the battlespace, our ground forces need the protection of additional mobile air defense systems," Kim Ernzen, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president, said in a press release. "Combining these two proven systems gives the Army an immediate, low-risk, high-value solution."

Raytheon said the Army is now evaluating a pairing of the Stinger and Striker.

The Stinger missile is an infrared homing surface-to-air missie that is manportable. It weighs about 33.5 pounds, has an effective range of about five miles and a 6.6 pound warhead.