Israel's Ministry of Defense announced today that it had carried out a successful test of the "David's Sling" interception system from a test site in the south of Israel. The announcement states, "The success of the trial is the final milestone in the development of the system before it is delivered to the Israel Air Force and declared operational during 2016."
The test is the last in a series of tests to check the capabilities and performance of the system (known in Hebrew as "Sharvit Kesamim" or "Magic Wand"), which will become part of the multi-layered defense array being developed by the Ministry of Defense. The ministry says that this system will make it possible to deal much more effectively with the threats to Israel, together with the existing components of the defense array against missiles.
he official statement says, "In the trials, the system's capabilities were examined in several scenarios, simulating the threats that the system is planned to counter. Target missiles were fired that were detected by the MMR radar. The radar transferred the data to the fire management center, which ran the defense programs against them. David's Sling interceptors were launched successfully, executed all the stages of flight and destroyed the targets as planned."
The trials were carried out by the Homa Administration (also known as the Israel Missile Defense Organization) in Mafat (the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure), part of the Ministry of Defense, together with the Missile Defense Agency of the US Department of Defense. The system is produced by Rafael, the main contractor, Israel Aerospace Industries unit Elta, and Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) unit Elisra.
"The David's Sling system is intended to provide an additional defensive layer against short- and medium-range missiles and rockets, particularly against precision threats, and also to add interception opportunities to the Arrow system, thus bolstering the defensive array against missile and rocket threats," the Ministry of Defense statement says.
The multi-layer defensive array includes the Arrow 3 system that is due to become operational within a few years and that is designed to deal in space with ballistic missiles carrying nuclear or chemical warheads that might be launched from Iran. A lower layer is the Arrow 2 system, that will counter ballistic missiles within the atmosphere.
The third layer is the Iron Dome system, which deals with short-range rockets. The David's Sling system will operate between these layers. "The system will carry out three missions: interception of long-range, precision rockets; back-up for the Arrow system in its lower layer; and interception of cruise missiles," explained Colonel Zvika Haimovich, commander of the IAF Aerial Defense Division. An initial unit of 85 personnel has been formed for the David's Sling battalion.
Elisra's Golden Almond system is the Lower Tier Ballistic Missile and Rocket Defense and the Fire Control Center (FCC) of the David's Sling system. It provides defense against ballistic targets and short-range missiles with David's Sling Weapon System and coordination with the Iron Dome system. The system calculates the course of the threat, builds an operational picture while identifying the type of target, provides assessments of the level of threat and coordinates the interception, thanks to its connection to intelligence and defense systems and to various sensors.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 21, 2015
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