On the heels of the success of the Iron Dome system, Israel successfully tested a new missile defense system in the Negev.
Dubbed David’s Sling, after the weapon used in the Biblical story of David and Goliath, the system is being developed jointly between the Israeli and American defense firms Rafael and Raytheon. It is designed to intercept medium to long-range missile between 70 and 300 kilometers—likely to be primarily launched from Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.
The technology “is designed to defeat a variety of short-range ballistic missiles, large caliber rockets and cruise missiles,” according to Raytheon.
The system is designed to complement the existing short-range Iron Dome and long-range Arrow 3 missile defense system, currently under development with Boeing.
“Once we finish David’s Sling and Iron Dome and the Arrow, then we’ll have the most advanced capability available to give a multilayer protection to Israeli citizens,” said an anonymous Israeli defense official quoted by the Associated Press.
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