The Israeli Air Force, the Israel Ministry of Defense Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) in the DDR&D, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems have announced the successful conclusion of a series of exercises and tests in southern Israel in which the “David’s Sling” air and missile defense system intercepted complex scenarios.
The scenarios simulated advanced threats, enhancing the system’s capabilities and significantly improving the State of Israel’s multi-tiered air and missile defense array.
“David’s Sling” successfully performed a series of live-fire tests specifically designed to counter advanced threats like ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aircrafts, and UAVs. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems also participated in the tests.
The exercises and tests examined the system’s existing capabilities in a number of challenging scenarios, proving the system’s operational capabilities during conflict. They also constitute an additional important milestone in the operational integration of the system into the Israeli Air Force, in the face of the variety of threats in the various combat arenas of the IDF.
Senior leadership from the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), a key partner in the development and production of the David’s Sling system, were on site to witness the event.
David’s Sling, together with the Arrow system, the Iron Dome, and the C-Dome (the naval configuration of the Iron Dome), forms an essential layer of the State of Israel’s air and missile defense array.
The Israel Ministry of Defense, through the IMDO, led the development efforts; the primary contractor for the system is Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, with Raytheon Missile Systems as a sub-contractor. The MMR was developed by Elta, a subsidiary of IAI, and Elbit Systems developed the BMC command center.
“During Operation ‘Shield and Arrow’, we witnessed the first operational interception of the David’s Sling defense system. This challenging operation showcased the system’s broad operational capabilities, proving the State of Israel’s qualitative advantage and global technological leadership, both in the field of air and missile defense and in general,” said Director of the DDR&D, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold, following the tests.
“The Israeli Air Force, in collaboration with our partners in the field of air defense force build-up processes, operates tirelessly day and night to fully unleash the potential of the system and optimize its performance in diverse and demanding scenarios,” added IAF Chief of Air Staff, Brig. Gen. Eyal Grinboim. “Through the testing of this model, we have successfully demonstrated our ability to carry out successful interceptions even in the most challenging scenarios. The combat soldiers have proven their outstanding operational capabilities yet again.”
“The ‘David Sling’ system was activated in Operation ‘Shield and Arrow’ and successfully intercepted two threats as part of an impressive operational event that protected the citizens of the country just as the sister system ‘Iron Dome’ has been doing for years,” added Brig. Gen. (Res.) Pini Yungman, Executive Vice President and Head of the Air Defense Division at Rafael.
As did the others, Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defense, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir also expressed his satisfaction with the successful tests and the significant advancement in the capabilities of the David’s Sling system.
