# How much would you guess a Stinger missile costs? I guessed about 3000.00 USD **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 6, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586 "2022-03-06T22:35:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/1 "2022-03-06T22:35:16Z")
According to Wikipedia more like 38,000 each. I wonder if that’s list price and discounts apply for bulk purchase. That’s almost my yearly salary per shot. Wait a minute…might be 119K now. Not sure what FY means in the linked article. Fiscal year? 119K is the 2020 price and 38K was the introductory price in 1980? > **[FIM-92 Stinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIM-92_Stinger)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > The FIM-92 Stinger is an American man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters as the Air-to-Air Stinger (ATAS). It entered service in 1981 and is used by the militaries of the United States and 29 other countries. It is principally manufactured by Raytheon Missiles & Defense and is produced under ... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/2 "2022-03-06T22:46:28Z")
Well, how much does the aircraft cost that it shoots down? I’ll bet it’s much, much more than 119 grand. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/3 "2022-03-06T23:21:56Z")
I should have made it clear in my original post that I am not complaining. If they are saving lives in Ukraine and helping stop Putin we should be sending as many as we can. And yes the aircraft they are shooting down cost way more. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/4 "2022-03-06T23:23:04Z")
Why would you think a modern thermal guided MANPAD would cause $3000? I’m pretty sure an RPG-7 and a couple of grenades costs more than that, and with that you basically have the same chance of hitting anything whether directly aiming or with a blindfold and someone directing you. The $119k price tag sounds a little high but unlike some military contractors Raytheon has a reputation for making things that work most of the time without blowing up in your face, the EKV/RKV notwithstanding. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/5 "2022-03-06T23:28:01Z")
Because I’m not a military guy have never served and ordinarily don’t follow stuff like that. A Russian M 24 helicopter is about 36M. We saw one of those taken out over Ukraine recently. > **[Mil Mi-24 / Mi-25 / Mi-35 - Price, Specs, Photo Gallery, History - Aero Corner](https://aerocorner.com/aircraft/mil-mi-35-24d/)** > > A Living Legend And Still Very Capable The MIL Mi-24 D ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/6 "2022-03-06T23:29:12Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Not sure what FY means in the linked article. Fiscal year? 119K is the 2020 price and 38K was the introductory price in 1980? Yes, FY = Fiscal Year. In Fiscal Year 1980, the missile component of the system cost U.S. $38,000. In inflation adjusted terms, in 2020 dollars, it cost U.S. $119,000. That’s a bit of an odd way to list the cost. I’m guessing the best publicly available source the Wiki editoriat could find was the cost of the missile in 1980, and the last time the infobox was updated was, for whatever reason, in 2020. Note that since the listed cost is only for the missile, the cost of the entire system would probably be substantially more. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/7 "2022-03-06T23:42:02Z")
A gunner I once talked to mentioned that a normal shell of the type they would routinely fire off a bunch of during routine training cost, I want to say, around $400? Maybe a bit more? But guided artillery shells can cost \>$100k, so I guess that’s what guided munitions cost, not $3000. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/8 "2022-03-07T02:11:10Z")
There’s also the question of precisely what one means by “cost”. These things have much smaller production runs than, say, an iPhone, so each one gets a larger amortized share of the R&D costs. The marginal cost per unit is probably much less, and would be even less yet with more mass-production. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/9 "2022-03-07T02:21:24Z")
I was guessing $100,000, roughly the same as the Javelin. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-guess-a-stinger-missile-costs-i-guessed-about-3000-00-usd/960586/10 "2022-03-07T14:21:35Z")
If you’ve never dealt with military pricing, you just wouldn’t know. But I suspect just one motor that drives the control surfaces costs more than $3000.