U.S. Army Seeks Input on Producing 11,000 New Short-Range Missiles to Replenish Depleted Stinger Stocks
The service published a request for information seeking production plans for the NGSRI, intended to replace the Stinger missile. Lockheed Martin and RTX are competing for the contract.
U.S. Army published a request for information document on the government's contracting website seeking defense industry input on production of the Next Generation Short Range Interceptor, or NGSRI. The document states that the Army plans to procure approximately 11,000 NGSRI missiles and 2,200 launch assemblies over ten years.
The service began developing the weapon with industry partners in 2023 and hopes to begin production within five years. Lockheed Martin and RTX are competing to build the NGSRI. RTX's Raytheon business currently manufactures the Stinger missile that the NGSRI is intended to replace.
Lockheed Martin conducted the first in a series of planned flight tests of a potential replacement in January 2026, and RTX's Raytheon carried out a ballistic test in February 2026. The NGSRI is designed as a "fire and forget" missile capable of defeating helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and larger unmanned aerial systems.
The Army expects the new missile to be faster, have a longer range, and be more survivable than the Stinger while engaging a wider range of aerial threats.
The NGSRI is also intended to be compatible with existing launch platforms. The FIM-92 Stinger, a shoulder-fired MANPADS that has been in service since the early 1980s, is an older weapon with a relatively cold industrial base.
U.S. Stinger arsenal. Marines prepared to fire an FIM-92 Stinger missile during a training exercise in Thailand on March 5, 2026.
