The missile is 1.52 m long and 70 mm in diameter with 10 mm fins. The missile itself weighs 10.1 kg, while the missile with launcher weighs approximately 34.5 pounds (15.2 kg). The Stinger is launched by a small ejection motor that pushes it a safe distance from the operator before engaging the main solid-fuel two-stage motor which accelerates it to a maximum speed of Mach 2.2 (750 m/s). The warhead is a 3 kg penetrating hit-to-kill warhead type with an impact fuze and a self-destruct timer.

In order to fire the missile, a BCU (Battery Coolant Unit) must be inserted into the handguard. This shoots a stream of argon gas into the system, as well as a chemical energy charge that enables the acquisition indicators, IFF antenna, and missile to get power. The batteries are somewhat sensitive to abuse, and only hold so much gas in them. Over time, and without proper maintenance, they are known to become unserviceable.

There are three main variants in use; the Stinger basic, STINGER-Passive Optical Seeker Technique (POST), and STINGER-Reprogrammable Microprocessor (RMP). The RMP version is commonly used by the US Army, and is excellent for combating countermeasures used by the enemy.