STINGER MISSILES' USEFULNESS FOR CONTRAS IS QUESTIONED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403490014-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: April 4, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403490014-0
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PA6EA 1a-
NEW YORK TIMES
4 April 1986
StingerMissiles' Usefulness
For Contras Is Questioned
By STEPHEN KINZER
Spacial to The No* York Timm
MANAGUA, Nicaragua, April 3 -
Diplomats and military officers said
this week that they doubted whether
the acquisition of advanced antiair-
craft weapon by the Nicaraguan
rebels would be sufficient to turn the
tide of battle in their favor.
The Reagan Adtministration, which
has decided to give surface-to-air
Stinger missiles to the Afghan and An-
golan rebels, is also known to be eager
to send them to the rebels fighting to
overthrow the Nicaraguan Govern.
ment.
Congress is considering an Adminis-
tration request to provide $100 million
in military and nonmilitary aid to the
rebels. Some Administration officials
have said that if Congress approves the
aid, as it is expected to do, antiaircraft
weapons will be part of the military aid
sent to the rebels, who are known as
contras.
Sasdinista Use of Air Power
Larry Speakee, the White House
spokesman, said last month that under
a compromise proposal offered to Con-
gress, $25 million of the $100 million
would be released immediately. He
said most of this would go for nonmili-
tary purposes, such as food, but some.
would be used to provide the portable
antiaircraft missiles and intensified
'military training.
The Stinger, which can be fired by an
individual soldier, would be by far the
most potent weapon in the rebel ar-
senal. According to experts, its auto-
matic guidance system can deliver a
high-explosive warhead to a target up
to three miles away. The missiles are
said to cost $60,000 each.
During 1985, Sandinista forces scored
major victories over rebel forces, in
large measure because of their in-
creasing use of air power. The Nicara-
guan Air Force is believed to own more
than 30 helicopters, including as many
as 13 highly sophisticated MI-24's of
Soviet manufacture.
"The contras say they are being
badly chewed up by helicopters, that
they are taking a lot of casualties that
way," one foreign ambassador in
Managua said today. "They think they
need something to protect them-
selves."
Adolfo Calera Portocarrero, the most
prominent rebel leader, said in an in-
terview several weeks ago that he was
seeking antiaircraft weapons for his
troops.
"Our most important materiel need
is defensive weapons to protect our
Other Saodindsta Advantages
In the past, commentators have cited
the Sanndinistas' air superiority as only
one of several factors that have con-
tributed to their military success.
others often mentioned are the over-
whelming advantages the Sandinistas
maintain in troop strength and arma-
ments, the superiority of their basic
training courses and their smoother,
more unified command structure.
Responding to the introduction of an-
tiaircraft weapons into the Nicaraguan
conflict, and to the likelihood that Nica-
raguan rebels will soon receive thei j
Stinger system, Central American pas-I
senger airlines are beginning to avoid 1.
flying over the Nicaragua-Honduras
border. Informed sources said Nicara-
guan air controllers now regularly ad-
vise pilots to approach Managua from
the Pacific Coast, so they will fly over
territory where there is no rebel pres-
ence.
Because the Stinger is more modern
than any other weapon the rebels have
used before, them is some doubt that
they will be able to learn to use it effec-
tively.
' It may be too sophisticated for the
people who are going to operate it,"
said a European diplomat. "It's for
modern armies, not for the contras."
The Administration has not said how
many Stinger missiles it intends to
send to the contras, but diplomats said
they doubted that more than Edd
be sent at first. They said rels who
w
have been using the SAM-7 wop
ably be given special courses in how
use the Stinger.
fighters from Russian gunships piloted
by Cubans," Mr. Calera said.
The United States has charged that
Cubans are among those who fly the
MI-24 helicopters.
'Make Operations More Equal'
A Latin American military officer
said that providing Stinger missiles to
the rebels "would remove some of the
technological advantage the Sandinis.
tas enjoy."
"This is not to say it would mean a
shift in favor of the contras, but it
would make operations more equal,"
the officer said. "Every time the San-
dinistas operate in helicopters, they'll
feel that extra psychological Ares-
The Nicaraguan Army has used heli-
'
copters to bomb and strafe enemy
troop concentrations, which has made
it difficult for the contras to move
across open terrain. But the helicopters
play other roles, that are perhaps ever;
more important, in transporting troops
transport and evacuating the wounded.'
"There is nothing that supports the
morale of an infantryman more than
knowing that if you're wounded, there's
a helicopter a few minutes away to
bring you to the hospital," one diplo?
mat said.
Countermeasures Expected
Military specialists in Managua said
they expect the Sandinistas to take
countermeasures if the Stinger system
is delivered to the contras. They said
the Sandinistas had already made
some tactical adjustments since rebels
began acquiring SAM-7 surface-to-air
missiles, which are rudimentary com-
pared to the Stinger. At least one San-
I dinista helicopter is believed to have
been shot down by a contra firing a
SAM-7.
"The Sandinistas are flying their
helicopters lower, closer to the ground,
so as to avoid being seen so easily," a
diplomat who follows the military con-
flict said. :'They are undoubtedly going
to be modifying the copters, and in fact
I would be very surprised if the Soviets
haven't already begun a program to do
that."
There is no indication, according to
military officers and diplomats, that
the Sandinistas are considering any
substantial reduction in their air opera-
tions, which have proven quite success.
ful.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403490014-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403490014-0
Stinger and MI-24: Missile and Quarry
IMII-241iid-D
Soviet-made armed assault helicopter able to transport eight fully-
equipped soldiers.
Length: 68 feet 10 Inches.
Maximum speed: 199 miles per hour
Range: 99 miles with maximum load
SUng.
U.S.-made shoulder-fired antiaircraft
missile, primarily meant to defend
against aircraft flying at low attitudes.
Sources: Jane's
All the World's Air-
craft. Jane's
Weapons Systems
Length: 5 feet
Weight: 34.5
pounds when
loaded
Missile: 2.75
inches in
diameter and
guided to the
target by heat-
seeking infra-
red device
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403490014-0