Israel's Ministry of Defense Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (DDR&D) and the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have successfully completed a series of interception trials for the David's Sling (Magic Wand) missile defense system against targets that simulated naval missiles and ballistic missiles.
The trials were led by Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. and took place somewhere in central Israel in cooperation with the Israel Air force and the Israel Navy. Israel's Ministry of Defense said that during the trials the capabilities of a new and more advanced version of David's Sling were tested. The series of trials included a range of potential conflict scenarios that might confront Israel in the future. The results of the trials will enable development engineers to continue to upgrade the system's capabilities.
David's Sling is a middle to long-range missile defense system capable of intercepting missiles fired from distances between 70 and 300 kilometers such as the large store of missiles held by Hezbollah in Lebanon and the smaller store held by the various terrorist militia organizations in Gaza.
During the trials the Ministry of Defense Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (DDR&D) and Rafael also successfully demonstrated the abilities of the Iron Dome system to intercept short range missiles, drones, and a range of other threats.
The trial had major importance in proving Israel's multi-layer missile defense system (Arrow, David's Sling and Iron Dome) and communications between the various systems in order to best manage and jointly coordinate missile threats and enhance interception opportunities during conflict.
Rafael is the lead contractor in the development of David's Sling in collaboration with US company Raytheon. Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) unit ELTA Systems developed the MMR radar and Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) developed the command and control mechanism.
The four layers of the missile defense system operated by the Israel Air Force are Iron Dome, David's Sling and the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 for long-range threats.
Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, who saw part of the trial said, "I welcome this successful trial which tested for the first time the combined multi-layer interception capabilities of the State of Israel's entire defense system. This is the most advanced system in the world, which provides Israel with protection from threats near and far."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 15, 2020
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