Everything We Learned About Lockheed's "QuadStar" Stinger Missile Replacement

Lockheed Martin has shared new details about its QuadStar surface-to-air missile, which is taking part in the U.S. Army competition to replace the venerable Stinger. QuadStar notably leverages past work the company did on a very small interceptor design called Miniature Hit-to-Kill (MHTK), particularly advanced seeker technology that allows for a more aerodynamically efficient design.

Chris Murphy, Senior Manager, Business Development for Integrated Air and Missile Defense Advanced Programs at Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control division, talked at length about QuadStar in an interview with TWZ last week. In 2023, the Army awarded Lockheed Martin and Raytheon contracts to develop competing designs for its Stinger replacement program, also known as the Next-Generation Short-Range Interceptor (NGSRI). Raytheon is also the prime contractor for Stinger. NGSRI is a component of the Army’s larger Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) effort that also includes the Sgt. Stout air defense system and a mobile 50-kilowatt laser directed energy weapon, both of which are based on the Stryker light armored vehicle.

An image depicting the launch of a QuadStar missile from a man-portable launcher. Lockheed Martin

For NGSRI, the Army has said in the past that it wants a new missile able to “provide improved target acquisition with increased lethality and ranges over current capability,” but with the same general form factor as Stinger so it can be fired using existing launcher architecture. Stinger first began entering U.S. service in the 1980s. The five-foot-long and 2.75-inch-diameter missile uses infrared guidance and has a blast-fragmentation warhead. The engagement envelope for man-portable air defense systems (MANAPDS) like Stinger today, in general, is around 15,000 feet and below. Some variants of Stinger reportedly offer greater maximum range.

“When the Army announced this [NGSRI] competition, they said, ‘look, Stinger, there’s a lot of good about Stinger – its size, its weight, the way it works – those are all good things. … just the technology’s old, and we want to see what industry might be able to bring to the table in the way of of new technologies and innovative approaches that could give us more performance in the same essentially in the same package,'” Lockheed Martin’s Murphy explained. “[They] don’t want to change anything with respect to the size of the launch tube. Don’t want to change anything with respect to the overall way that it works. … So that was the challenge that they laid out.”

Members of the US Army fire a Stinger missile during an exercise in 2024. US Army

A Stryker-based Sgt. Stout air defense system, which is armed with millimeter wave radar-guided AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missiles and a 30mm automatic cannon in addition to Stinger. US Army

Murphy also highlighted additional overarching challenges when it comes to developing any next-generation surface-to-air missile system that is capable of being employed in a man-portable configuration effectively and affordably against a broad swath of target sets.

“The challenge that you have with unmanned systems today is you’re going to have to do something that is a little bit out of the ordinary to address all of them,” he said. “They’re not particularly expensive. Their impact is probably way outsized.”

At the same time, “having a man-portable device that can be a part of a layered defense – because one system isn’t going to do it all, right? And can still take on fixed wing aircraft,” including fourth, fifth, and even sixth-generation fighters, at least to some degree, is important, he continued. Crewed helicopters are still part of the threat picture, as well. The ranges at which those platforms can threaten friendly forces are also increasing.

The Lockheed Martin QuadStar video below includes a number of potential operational scenarios involving different threat types.

“So how do you address those high-end threats and at the same time be inexpensive enough that you can be used when necessary on Group 3 or Group 2 UAVs [uncrewed aerial vehicles]?”

In U.S. military parlance, Group 2 drones are defined as weighing between 21 and 55 pounds, as well as being able to fly at altitudes up to 3,500 feet and at top speeds of up to 250 knots. Group 3 category includes designs with gross weights between 55 and 1,320 pounds, altitude ceilings of between 3,500 and 18,000 feet, and top speeds of between 100 to 250 knots.

“So, to a degree, we relied on … some work that was done a while ago when the counter rocket, artillery, and mortar [mission] was a significant driver,” Murphy added. “We built a small missile that we called Miniature Hit-to-Kill. It was a 40 millimeter projectile. So we took a lot of what we learned in doing that work and applied it to this problem set that the Army has.”

A mockup of a Miniature Hit-to-Kill (MHTK) interceptor. Joseph Trevithick

MHTK was one of a number of interceptors the Army tested in the 2010s as part of an effort called Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-Intercept (IFPC Inc 2-I). As noted, IFPC Inc 2-I was focused primarily on finding new ways to knock down incoming artillery shells and rockets. Lockheed Martin said at the time that MHTK could also be used to engage small drones. IFPC Inc 2-I has since evolved into a short-range air defense system called Enduring Shield, which the Army is now in the process of fielding and currently uses the AIM-9X Sidewinder as its interceptor.

“One of the things that we took from Miniature Hit-to-Kill was the shape,” Murphy said. With QuadStar, “we taper down. So we have a 2.75-inch or 70 millimeter rocket motor, and then we taper down as you get up towards the forebody, for lack of a better term, once you get past the rocket motor.”

“So we have a pointy nose, if you will. And by having that pointy nose with the same kind of rocket motor that you use today on Stinger, it’s no secret, it’s just physics, you get less drag. If you get less drag, you fly further, and you can fly faster,” he added. “And so then if you do something to the rocket motor, you can do even more.”

Murphy did not elaborate on what advancements Lockheed Martin may have introduced on QuadStar with regard to the missile’s rocket motor. Last week, the Army did interestingly highlight separate work it has been doing since 2022 on an air-breathing rocket ramjet propulsion system that could fit in a Stinger-sized missile as part of a science and technology effort called Red Wasp. Rocket ramjets are not new, but are seeing a renewed burst of interest given the benefits they offer in terms of range and speed, especially within the U.S. military.

An image the US Army released last week of a Red Wasp test. US Army

QuadStar’s shaping has direct impacts on other aspects of the design, particularly the seeker. Stinger has a blunter nose profile to help optimize the field of view for the seeker head inside.

With MHTK, “we had about three different seeker types. And one of those seeker types had windows, if you will, for a semi-active laser kind of thing on the front,” Murphy said. “And we took that same approach here, where we’ve got windows that allow our [infrared] seeker to see where it’s going.”

“Across the board, [camera and other optical] technology has advanced … there are still some really cool things that you can do with all the different wavelengths of light,” he added, speaking more generally. “Those things that don’t necessarily have to have as much attention to them to work, have gotten very capable.”

The configuration of QuadStar’s seeker allows it to be less complex, overall, and lower cost, as a result, according to Murphy.

“What we learned in Miniature Hit-to-Kill was, really, how small can we go diameter-wise and still have functioning electronics and still have a round that could be affordably produced,” he added. “Miniaturization of electronics is just leaps and bounds over where it was a few years ago, much less 50.”

Unlike MHTK, which was designed to destroy targets through sheer force of impact, QuadStar does have an explosive warhead inside, but it is also designed to be as compact as possible while still being effective. “If you can get a warhead closer to a target, and if that warhead is optimized … for those kinds of situations, you can have extremely lethal effects, not only against small drones, but against fixed wing targets, as well,” Murphy said.

Other prior work at Lockheed Martin on other unspecified “systems that are either man-portable or operator-in-the-loop kinds of things” have also fed into QuadStar’s development, according to Murphy.

QuadStar also has a modular, open-architecture design intended to make it easier to integrate new and improved capabilities and functionality in the future. Murphy said that this is already helping accelerate iterative developmental work, including changes based on feedback from members of the Army.

Murphy further noted that the Army has structured the NGSRI program in a way that will give it ownership over the core architecture behind whichever design it ultimately chooses. This gives the service much more freedom to incorporate upgrades provided by third parties down the line should it choose to do so.

All together, “what we tried to do was take our experience in fire control, our experience with AI [artificial intelligence] and machine learning, our experience with aerodynamics of missiles, and with seekers, and we tried to put all that together to get us a low cost missile that can get out and get after targets at really long range, and can still do the kinds of things you expect this kind of weapon to do.”

A mockup of a QuadStar launch tube attached to a man-portable launcher. Lockheed Martin

Murphy said that the QuadStar team has also been making design decisions with an eye toward manufacturability, as well as performance and affordability. While he could not provide an estimated unit cost, he said the missile is set to be far under the Army’s target price point. The unit price for new-manufacture current-generation Stingers has been reported to be around $400,000 in recent years.

Though the Army’s NGSRI requirements call for the ability to use existing Stinger launcher architecture, Lockheed Martin has also been developing a new Command Launch Assembly (CLA) for employing QuadStar in the man-portable mode. This has been driven in large part by the need for improved targeting capabilities to match the increased range of the new missile.

An annotated rendering of the new man-portable Command Launch Assembly (CLA) that Lockheed Martin has developed for QuadStar. Lockheed Martin capture

Even today, in its man-portable configuration, Stinger has a relatively rudimentary optical sighting system. A night vision optic can also be fitted, but is a notably cumbersome addition. An IFF (identification, friend or foe) antenna is also provided to reduce the chance of friendly fire. Auditory tones, as well as physical feedback to the cheekbone via a bone transducer, are the only indicators the operator gets for successful IFF interrogation and target lock. Any additional help in finding targets to begin with is done via communicating with other personnel either verbally or via radio. The Army has also experimented with firing Stinger from the Lightweight Command Launch Unit (LWCLU) for the Javelin anti-tank guided missile, which offers improved targeting capabilities.

A breakdown of the basic components of a Stinger man-portable air defense system (MANPADS). US Army

Lockheed Martin’s new CLA for QuadStar incorporates much-improved optics together with a computerized targeting system that leverages advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

“If you think about the optics that you have available in your mobile [phone] camera today compared to what I had in my, you know, Zeiss Ikon in 1970 whatever it was, it’s pretty amazing the quality you get out of those kinds of cameras,” Lockheed Martin’s Murphy said, speaking generally, about advances in optics since Stinger was originally designed.

“[We can] take advantage of artificial intelligence [and] machine learning … to help with automated target recognition and automated target tracking and our automated target ID, so that the soldiers and the Marines can be sure that what they’re shooting at is what they really intended to shoot at, but that they can do it at a range that’s longer than what you would expect today,” he added.

With QuadStar, “the gunner will look for the target through … the Command Launch Assembly. And once he detects that target, there’s a process within the CLA that helps [determine] … what type of target it is, [the] likelihood that it’s friend or foe, that kind of thing,” Murphy explained. “And once they decide that that’s a target that they want to track, they can automatically track that target. And then when it’s time to engage, they essentially go through a few buttons and launch the missile.”

Computer-generated depictions of the view through the new CLA for QuadStar. Lockheed Martin captures

“The missile itself will lock onto the target after it leaves the tube and engage the target, hopefully at a pretty long range,” he continued. Overall, “we’re trying to cut the steps that you go through for an engagement significantly so that it’s not quite as protracted. We’re trying to take away some of the things that might pose a little bit of a challenge in terms of operations.”

Right now, the ability to network the CLA together with other nodes in a larger integrated air defense architecture is something that is under consideration. Many larger air defense systems that currently employ Stinger, such as the Sgt. Stout and the older Avenger, already incorporate certain degrees of offboard cueing capability.

“When you think about it from an operational point of view, you want that piece of kit to know as much as it can,” Murphy said, speaking in broad terms. “It might even be good if that piece of kit were able to provide information back into the system.”

“Everybody is working [on] their architectures for the future,” he added. This, in turn, raises questions about “what information flow can we handle? What information flow is even valuable? So part of this goes to, can you do it technically? Sure. Is it worthy of something that you want to spend time and effort doing? I think that’s still up in the air based on requirements from the people that have to use it, I guess is the way that I would put it.”

Murphy said that Lockheed Martin sees its new CLA as already offering significantly improved capability to spot and engage threats over what is available now with Stinger. At the same time, he did acknowledge that demand for additional capability to help find and track targets at extended ranges could grow in the future. Improving sensor fusion and network connectivity, especially when it comes to air and missile defense architectures, are areas the Army and the rest of the U.S. military are already very interested in. The Army is in the process of fielding a new networking architecture focused on air and missile defense missions called the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS).

It is important to note that the competition between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for NGSRI is very much still underway. Given the Army’s push for the new missile to slot in with existing Stinger infrastructure, whoever wins the contract could well expect to see a significant windfall. The Marines are also expecting to acquire NGSRIs to replace their Stingers, and other branches of the U.S. armed forces could follow suit. There are dozens of other operators who employ Stinger in various configurations globally, as well.

Murphy also highlighted the potential for QuadStar to be employed in other domains, including as an air-launched weapon and in maritime installations. However, he said the focus now is on ground-based applications. Stinger can already be used in an air-to-air mode, as well as from mounts on ships. Growing threats posed by drones are now also creating new demand broadly for lower-cost anti-air interceptors, including ones that can be launched from fixed-wing aircraft, crewed and uncrewed, and helicopters.

The ongoing war in Ukraine has also helped thrust Stinger, as well as other man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), back into the spotlight in recent years. Ukrainian forces have been using various types of MANPADS to good effect against Russian helicopters, drones, and even subsonic cruise missiles.

#Ukraine: Another Russian cruise missile (Kh-101/Kh-55) was shot down by Ukrainian 9K38 Igla MANPADS operators today. Two 9M39 missiles are fired, with one striking the target. pic.twitter.com/5MS92CFiTx

— Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) December 29, 2022

The conflict in Ukraine has also underscored the importance of both affordability and manufacturability, as Lockheed Martin’s Murphy highlighted when talking about QuadStar. After Russia’s all-out invasion in 2022, Raytheon had real trouble keeping up with the surge in demand. The U.S. military’s transfer of large stocks of Stinger to Ukraine has only put additional emphasis on the replacement NGSRI.

Recent U.S. operations in the Middle East have also highlighted growing concerns, in general, about the adequacy of existing munitions stockpiles and the ability to replenish them, especially in the event of a large-scale conflict, such as one in the Pacific against China.

“At the end of the day, if you build this exquisite piece of machinery that you can only make one of a month because they’re too difficult to produce, then you really haven’t helped anybody,” Lockheed Martin’s Murphy told TWZ.

When it comes to NGSRI, the Army is looking to pick between QuadStar and Raytheon’s proposal sometime in the next few years, and to hopefully begin fielding its new short-range surface-to-air missiles by 2028.

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