FIM-92 Stinger

The General Dynamics FIM-92 'Stinger' is a man-portable, infra-red, homing SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile) developed in the United States and used by the US military, with whom it entered service in 1981. The basic Stinger missile has to date been used for over 270 confirmed kills of aircraft.

It is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems and also under license by EADS in Germany. Raytheon designates the missile as a MANPADS (Man-Portable Air-Defense System). It is used by the military of the United States and by 29 other countries. Around 70,000 missiles have been produced.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
It appears only in Campaign Mode, and its appearances are few and far between. It first appears in the level Hunted to destroy the pursuing Mi-8. It also appears in several hidden weapons caches in All Ghillied Up, but using it tips everyone to the player's position and is very detrimental to the mission. It is found in two places. The first one is the church before the helicopter passes over. You can use the stinger to take it down if you feel like it. The first shot will usually miss and you must run into the church to get another stinger missile. Go outside again and avoid the helicopter's fire. When you get a good spot, lock on it and shoot. The second time will usually work. The second place is the building the sniper is on after the convention. After you kill the sniper, run up the fire escape to where he came out from. Climb into the room he spawned in and there will be Stinger missiles in there. You can use it to shoot the nearby helicopter hovering over the enemy soldiers. When you shoot it though, hurry and get back to MacMillian. Stay in the room on the second floor and keep watch on the window. It helps a lot if you have the unlimited ammo cheat. In All Ghillied Up it is possible to fire this weapon at the BMP in the convoy you have to sneak past. Take the Stingers in the church and target it at the BMP like you would a helicopter. It may or may not take out the BMP along with any nearby troops. It is less simple to use than a Javelin as the target must be located by sight not an electronic screen that locates the target. Also, unlike the Javelin, each Stinger has a one-time use. You need to pick up another Stinger (if available) in order to continue firing.

Modern Warfare 2
The Stinger returns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the same purpose as the first game. In the campaign it is used in the mission Wolverines! to shoot down enemy Helicopters. It can also be found in The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday and can be used to destroy an enemy Helicopter.

The Stinger is available in multiplayer as a secondary weapon, unlocked at level 30. It can lock onto killstreak vehicles and comes with 2 rockets. The drawback is that it cannot be fired without a lock-on and thus can not be fired at infantry enemy player, and since it is electronically guided, it can't fire when an enemy EMP is active.

The lock-on missiles it fires are the fastest available, as they are faster than the AT4's, and the Javelin takes much longer to lock on and the launch sequence also takes much longer.

It is better than the AT4 in taking down killstreak aircraft due to a better tracking system, a faster missile speed, higher damage, and more starting ammunition. It takes one missile to bring down UAVs, Attack Helicopters, and Harriers. Pave Lows and Chopper Gunners are a little trickier to dispatch, as they release flares which often re-direct the missile entirely so 2 missiles will generally be necessary. AC-130s take 3 missiles to kill, having two flare defenses. This means that you must get help from a teammate or use the Scavenger perk to find another missile. Another Option for taking out Pave Lows is to position yourself directly under the Pave Low and fire. The missile won't have time to veer off course toward the flares and will strike the Chopper destroying it.

As it is quite large and stored on the player's back, it can make the player more visible when partially behind cover.

Consider using Cold-Blooded with this weapon so air vehicles will not target you as you attempt to shoot them down. This also helps with acquiring the Pro version of said perk, which prevents the red name and crosshairs from appearing on an enemy's screen when they are looking at the user.

Trivia

 * The Stinger is the only lock-on launcher weapon in Modern Warfare 2 that has two missiles, but is not stated in the name of the weapon with x2.
 * There is a small delay before you can launch the missile, your character has to bring up the iron sights and Infra-red laser designator.
 * If you look at the Stinger very closely, clearly visible through a sniper scope, it has writing that says "BLAH BLAH BLAH".
 * In Call of Duty 4 multiplayer, objectives in Search and Destroy are depicted as Stingers packed into boxes.
 * In Call of Duty 4, there is Russian print on the side of the weapon. This is utterly peculiar as the Stinger was only manufactured in the US, Germany, Switzerland and Turkey and not supplied to Russia.
 * During the mission "All Ghillied Up", the Stinger can lock-on to the wild dog, however only before Macmillan tells you to avoid it.
 * On Infinity Ward's website the Stinger was voted the favorite rocket launcher in Modern Warfare 2.
 * The Stinger will not lock-on through glass in multiplayer due to the fact that infra-red light will not penetrate glass. Maps with glass skylights like Terminal must be shot out with regular bullets before you can lock on to an enemies air support.
 * Harriers do not count towards the Stinger Marksman challenges, only helicopters do.
 * When an EMP is used, the launcher will not stop working, however the missiles will not do full damage.
 * There is a fingerprint on the ironsight in Modern Warfare 2.
 * On rare occasions, if the Stinger is fired at an enemy aircraft as it leaves the map it will chase the aircraft until it is completely removed from play, allowing the user to destroy it and get the corresponding XP bonus anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds after it leaves the map.
 * If you shoot a missile at an enemy aircraft and it starts leaving the map before the missile reaches it, it will chase it and hit it, returning a damage report (X) but not destroying it or giving XP
 * When fired at aircraft that have no flares, or have used them, if it misses it will curve in a giant arc and still destroy the target. The exception to this is Harriers, sometimes the missile will miss and arc around to miss again and hit the battlefield.
 * The Stinger is used by an SAS to destroy a chopper that flies above the player. There is no other stinger on the level, but the empty launcher can be seen.
 * If you manage to destroy the first helicopter in "All Ghillied Up", Macmillan will say: "All right, now you're just showing off".
 * If the Stinger missile is diverted by flares or the target is destroyed before it can hit, the missile will tail off and hit somewhere else in the battlefield. Thus, it is possible to kill another player with the rocket. (See video below) Also if a enemy jumps in front of you as you launch the missile you will both be killed.
 * On top of the Stinger scope, there's writing which forms names, these can be seen through a sniper scope: 8R0CKH8URD (Blackbird) - P3A58NT (Peasant) - T5U38M1 (Tsunami) - M8GN3TH38D (Magnethead) - QW33F8E8ST (Qweefbeast) - 5t0n3p13l0t (Stonepilot) - CH08ACCA (Chewbacca) - G315L3R (Geisler) - L0N65H035 (Longshoes) - C0177PY6 (Coitus) - 120YC3 (Royce) - PO12T312 (Porter) - 5OUPY (Soupy) - L0RCK (Lorck) - G121GG1 (Griggs) - K177Y (Kitty). These are all gamertags of Infinity Ward employees on Xbox Live.
 * In Of their Own Accord, the player can see a Navy SEAL use a Stinger to destroy an enemy helicopter. However, as you are in the helicopter, you cannot acquire a Stinger of your own.

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJppOJRvRZ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx9qsVyKU-U