Stars and Stripes
April 13, 2022

Paratroopers fire Stingers in a first for 173rd Airborne Brigade

Soldiers with the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade are fresh off an exercise in Croatia….

It was the first time the brigade had fired live FIM-92 Stinger missiles instead of replicas, according to the Vicenza-based unit. The drill also marked the first time the Croatian Air Defense Regiment had conducted a live-fire exercise with U.S. forces.

The two-man squads, consisting of a team chief and a gunner, fired their missiles at or over a small target with a flare, and the missiles landed in the Adriatic Sea, said Capt. Rob Haake, a brigade spokesman.

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The two dozen paratroopers with the 1st and 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment launched 12 of the shoulder-fired, infrared homing surface-to-air missiles, which cost about $38,000 each.

The exercise took place Friday and Saturday near Pula as part of Operation Shield, a long-running annual drill run by Croatia, which joined NATO in 2009.

Stingers have been provided in large numbers by the U.S and allies to Ukrainian forces….