US Starts David’s Sling Missile Components Delivery To Israeli Air Force

The Israeli Air Force has begun receiving the main components of the David’s Sling air defense system from the US Missile Defense Agency.

The Israeli Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the handover would take a number of weeks to complete. "In the first stage, project managers from Homa, together with military industries, headed by prime contractor, Rafael, will begin handing over the interception, command and control, and radar systems," i24 news website reported quoting a statement by the Defense Ministry.

The medium-range interceptor, developed with United States backing, is designed to fill the gap between the longer-range Arrow missile defense system and the shorter-range Iron Dome interceptor.

It was developed by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and US company Raytheon.

An unnamed source part of the team responsible for the David's Sling system told Haaretz newspaperthat the idea behind the system is "to enable high-altitude interceptions even hundreds of kilometers away from the area in need of protection, and even when threatened with accurate missiles".

Israel's David's Sling missile defense system passed final tests in December and it was announced that it would be ready for deployment as part of the country's efforts to defend against regional threats.