Upgraded David's Sling intercepts missiles in trials

• Date: 15 December 2020
• Published date: 15 December 2020
• Author: Danny Zaken
• Publication title: Globes (Rishon LeZion, Israel)

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...