The FIM-92 Stinger is a Man-Portable Air-Defense System that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile. It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground helicopters. Developed in the United States, 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 Missile Systems and is produced under license by EADS in Germany and by Roketsan in Turkey, with 70,000 missiles produced. Light to carry and easy to operate, the FIM-92 Stinger is a passive surface-to-air missile that can be shoulder-fired by a single operator; the FIM-92B missile can be fired from the M-1097 Avenger and the M6 Linebacker. The missile is capable of being deployed from a Humvee Stinger rack, can be used by airborne troops. A helicopter launched version exists called Air-to-Air Stinger; the missile is 5.0 ft long and 2.8 in in diameter with 3.9 in fins. The missile itself weighs 22 lb, while the missile with its launch tube and integral sight, fitted with a gripstock and IFF antenna, weighs 34 lb.

It has an outward targeting range of up to 4,800 m and can engage low altitude enemy threats at up to 3,800 m. The Stinger is launched by a small ejection motor that pushes it a safe distance from the operator before engaging the main two-stage solid-fuel sustainer, which accelerates it to a maximum speed of Mach 2.54. The warhead is a 6.6 lb penetrating hit-to-kill annular blast fragmentation type with an impact fuze and a self-destruct timer. To fire the missile, a BCU is inserted into the gripstock; this device consists of a supply of liquid argon, injected into the seeker to cool it to operating temperature, a thermal battery which provides power for target acquisition: a single BCU provides power and coolant for 45 seconds, after which another must be inserted if the missile has not been fired. The BCUs are somewhat sensitive to abuse, have a limited shelf life due to the pressurised liquid argon leaking; the IFF system receives power from a rechargeable battery, part of the IFF interrogator box which plugs into the base of the gripstock's pistol grip.

Guidance to the target is through proportional navigation switches to another mode that directs the missile towards the target airframe instead of its exhaust plume. There are three main variants in use: the Stinger basic, STINGER-Passive Optical Seeker Technique, STINGER-Reprogrammable Microprocessor; these correspond to the FIM-92A, FIM-92B, FIM-92C and variants respectively. The POST has a dual-detector seeker: IR and UV; this allows it to distinguish targets from countermeasures much better than the Redeye and FIM-92A, which have IR-only. While modern flares can have an IR signature, matched to the launching aircraft's engine exhaust, there is a distinguishable difference in UV signature between flares and jet engines; the Stinger-RMP is so-called because of its ability to load a new set of software via ROM chip inserted in the grip at the depot. If this download to the missile fails during power-up, basic functionality runs off the on-board ROM; the four-processor RMP has 4 KB of RAM for each processor.

Since the downloaded code runs from RAM, there is little space to spare for processors dedicated to seeker input processing and target analysis. The missile began as a program by General Dynamics to produce an improved variant of their 1967 FIM-43 Redeye. Production of the Redeye ran from 1969 with a total production of around 85,000 missiles; the program was accepted for further development as Redeye II by the U. S. Army in 1971 and designated FIM-92; because of technical difficulties that dogged testing, the first shoulder launch was not until mid-1975. Production of the FIM-92A began in 1978. An improved Stinger with a new seeker, the FIM-92B, was produced from 1983 alongside the FIM-92A. Production of both the A and B types ended in 1987 with around 16,000 missiles produced; the replacement FIM-92C began development in 1984, production began in 1987. The first examples were delivered to front-line units in 1989. C-type missiles were fitted with a reprogrammable microprocessor, allowing for incremental firmware updates.

Missiles designated D received improvements to improve their ability to defeat countermeasures, upgrades to the D were designated G. The FIM-92E or Block I was developed from 1992 and delivered from 1995; the main changes were again in the sensor and the software, improving the missile's performance against low-signature targets. A software upgrade in 2001 was designated F. Block II development began in 1996 using a new focal plane array sensor to improve the missile's effectiveness in "high clutter" environments and increase the engagement range to about 25,000 feet. Production was scheduled for 2004. Since 1984 the Stinger has been issued to many U. S. Navy warships for point defense in Middle Eastern waters, with a three-man team that can perform other duties when not conducting Stinger training or maintenance; until it was decommissioned in September 1993, the U. S. Navy had at least one Stinger Gunnery Detachment attached to Beachmaster Unit Two in Little Creek Virginia; the sailors of this detachment would deploy to carrier battlegroups in teams of two to four sailors per ship as requested by Battle Group Commanders.

FIM-92A, Stinger Basic: The basic model. FIM-92B, Stinger

Laurence Arthur Faunt was an English Jesuit theologian and missionary to Poland. After two years at Merton College, Oxford under the tuition of the philosopher John Potts, he went to the Jesuit college at the Catholic University of Leuven where he took his B. A. After some time spent in Paris he entered the University of Munich under the patronage of William V, Duke of Bavaria; the date of his entrance into the Society of Jesus is disputed, some authorities giving 1570, others 1575, the year in which he went to the English College, Rome, to pursue his studies in theology. On the latter occasion he added Lawrence to Arthur, he was made professor of divinity and attracted the attention of Pope Gregory XIII, who on the establishment of the Jesuit college at Posen in 1581, appointed him rector. He was professor of Greek there for three years, of moral theology and controversy for nine more. Faunt was the third son of William Faunt, esq. of Foston, Leicestershire, by his second wife, daughter of George Vincent, esq. of Peckleton, widow of Nicholas Purefoy, esq. of Drayton.

He was sent to Merton College, Oxford, in 1568, placed under the tuition of John Potts, a noted philosopher, his instructor in the country. Potts being a Roman Catholic afterwards took Faunt away from Oxford with the consent of his parents, who were Catholics and in the beginning of 1570 conducted him to Louvain and placed him in the jesuit college there. After graduating B. A. at Louvain he resided for some time in Paris, proceeded to Munich, where William, duke of Bavaria, chose him as his scholar, maintained him in the university, where he commenced M. A. In 1575 he went to the English College at Rome, where he studied divinity, changed his name to Laurence Arthur Faunt. Not long after he was constituted divinity reader in the college, was in high favour with Pope Gregory XIII, who, in token of his affection, gave him license to make a seal, when appended to a document, would enable the bearer to pass through foreign countries without fear of the Spanish inquisition or any other similar danger.

It was supposed that if the pontiff's life had been prolonged he would have raised Faunt to the rank of cardinal. When the king of Poland established a Jesuit college at Posen, Faunt was appointed by the pope to be its first rector, he accordingly left Rome on 10 June 1581. Alegambe states that he was professor of Greek at Posen for three years, of moral theology and controversy for nine years, he was esteemed by the spiritual and temporal estates of the Polish nation. A letter sent by him to his brother Anthony, dated Danzig, 1589, shows that he was sent for at the same time by three several princes, he died at Wilna, the capital of the province of Lithuania, in Poland, on 28 Feb. 1590–1. His works are: 1. ` Assertiones Theologicæ de Christi in terris Ecclesia,' 1580, 4to. 2. ‘Assertiones Rhetoricæ ac Philosophicæ, quæ in Coll. Posnaniensi Soc. Jes. an. 1582 in solemni studiorum renovatione disputandæ proponuntur,' 1582, 4to. 3. ‘Disputatio Theologica de D. Petri et Romani Pontificis successoris ejus in Ecclesia Christi principatu,’ Posen, 1583, 4to.

4. ‘Doctrina Catholica de Sanctorum invocatione et veneratione,’ Posen, 1584, 4to. 5. ‘De Christi in terris Ecclesia, quænam et penes quos existat, libri tres. In quibus Calvinianos, Lutheranos et cæteros, qui se Evangelicos nominant, alienos à Christi Ecclesia esse … demonstratur, et simul Apologia Assertionum ejusdem inscriptionis contra falsas Antonii Sadeelis criminationes continetur,’ Posen, 1584, 4to. 6. ‘Cœnæ Lutheranorum et Calvinianorum oppugnatio ac Catholicæ Eucharistiæ Defensio,’ 2 parts, Posen, 1586, 4to. The second part treats ‘De Augustissimo Missæ Sacrificio.’ 7. ‘De Controversiis inter Ordinem Ecclesiasticum et Secularem in Polonia, ex iure diuino, Regniq. Statutis, Priuilegijs, ac Præscriptione Tractatio’, 1587, 4to. 8. ‘Apologia libri sui de invocatione et veneratione Sanctorum, contra falsas Danielis Tossani, Theologiæ Calvinianæ Profess. Heidelbergen. Criminationes,’ Cologne, 1589, 8vo, Posen, 1590, 4to. 9. ` Tractatus de controversiis 1592, 4to. 10. ‘De Ordinatione et Vocatione Ministrorum Lutheranorum et Calvinistarum, eorumque Sacramentis,’ Posen.

11. ‘Oratio habita in Synodo Petrocoviensi Provinciali. De causa et remediis Hereseῶn.’ His major theological works are: Assertiones theologicæ de Christi in terris Ecclesia, quaenam et penes quos existat.. Tenenda est nobis Christiana religio, & eius Ecclesiæ communication, que Catholica est & Catholica nominator, non solùm à suis, verumentiam ab omnibus inimicis. Posnaniae: Joannem Wolrab, 1582. Libri tres: In quibus calvinianos, lutheranos, et cæteros, qui se evangelicos nominant, alienos à christi ecclesia esse, signis, clarißimis demonstratur, & simul apologia assertionum eiusdem inscriptionis contra falsa Antonij Sadeelis criminationes continetur. Posnaniae: Joannem Wolrab, 1584. "Coenae Lutheranorum et Calvinistarum oppugnatio ac catholicae Eucharitiae defensio". Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in th

The Old US 67 Rest Area is a historic roadside rest area in rural Clark County, Arkansas. It is located in on the west side of U. S. Route 67 and an old paved section designated Highway 51, between the small towns of Curtis and Gum Springs; the rest area consists of a semicircular fieldstone retaining wall, segmented by six fieldstone pillars. A semicircular concrete bench stands facing a fieldstone well; the rest area was built five years after US 67 was paved in 1931, by the National Youth Administration, a federal New Deal agency, the state highway department. Near the third pillar is a plaque which says: The rest area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. National Register of Historic Places listings in Clark County, Arkansas