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U.S. Army test-fired FIM-92 Stinger missile from its newest launch platform IFPC Inc 2-I 12903164

Military Defense Industry Technology - New Stinger platform

U.S. Army test-fired FIM-92 Stinger missile from its newest launch platform IFPC Inc 2-I.

The U.S. Army successfully fired a FIM-92 Stinger missile from its newest launch platform, March 23, 2016. The missile was fired here as part of a demonstration of the Army's new Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-Intercept (IFPC Inc 2-I) platform's Multi-Mission Launcher (MML).

An FIM-92 Stinger missile is fired downrange from the Army's new Multi-Mission Launcher tube at an Eglin Air Force Base range March 23, 2016. (Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.)

The new, first-of-its-kind, MML is designed to fire a variety of different interceptor missiles, depending on the threat. Stinger, originally developed as a man-portable air defense infrared homing surface-to-air missile, has been adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, such as the IFPC MML. A variety of other missiles are scheduled to be tested as part of an IFPC Inc 2-I Engineering Demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in the coming weeks.

The IFPC Inc 2-I system is a mobile ground-based weapon system designed to defeat unmanned aircraft systems, cruise missiles, and rockets, artillery, and mortars. In addition to the MML, the IFPC Inc 2-I System will use the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) for its command and control, a Sentinel radar, and existing interceptors to provide 360-degree protection with the ability to engage simultaneous threats arriving from different azimuths.

The MML is mounted on a medium tactical vehicle. The launcher can rotate 360 degrees and elevate from 0-90 degrees. It consists of fifteen tubes, each of which can hold either a single large interceptor or multiple smaller interceptors. Developed using an open systems architecture, the launcher will interface to the IBCS Engagement Operations Center to support and coordinate target engagements.

IFPC Inc 2-I is a joint collaborative effort between the Army's Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space's Cruise Missile Defense Systems (CMDS) Project Office and the Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). The joint CMDS/AMRDEC team brought together more than 150 subject matter experts from across the AMRDEC enterprise with representatives from six directorates and more than 20 functional areas to design, manufacture, procure, assemble, and test the U.S. Army's newest Air Defense launcher. The MML Product Team leveraged more than 85 industry partners to assist in design and manufacturing. AMRDEC will provide additional MMLs through the Engineering and Manufacturing Development acquisition phase, six of which will be assembled by Letterkenny Army Depot. This is the first development of a major acquisition program by the government organic industrial base in more than 30 years.