The Jerusalem Post:
The Defense Ministry and US Missile Defense Agency began handing over control of the David’s Sling air defense system to the Israel Air Force on Tuesday.
The development comes after a series of successful trials were completed in December, said the Ministry’s Home Administration, which is in charge of developing missile defenses.
The IAF’s Air Defense Branch has now begun receiving the main components of David’s Sling.
The Defense Ministry and US Missile Defense Agency began handing over control of the David’s Sling air defense system to the Israel Air Force on Tuesday.
The development comes after a series of successful trials were completed in December, said the Ministry’s Home Administration, which is in charge of developing missile defenses.
The IAF’s Air Defense Branch has now begun receiving the main components of David’s Sling.
The trials took place in southern Israel and were led by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which is developing David’s Sling, together with the US defense company Raytheon.
David’s Sling can intercept short-range to medium-range rockets and ballistic missiles, including guided projectiles, cruise missiles, aircraft, and drones. Its range of coverage means it can destroy incoming threats over enemy territory, away from Israeli skies.
The handover will take a number of weeks to complete, the Defense Ministry said. “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,” it said in a statement.
David’s Sling will join the IAF’s multi-layered rocket and missile defense systems. It will allow Israel to cope with a wide-range of existing and future threats “more effectively,” the ministry said. It is primarily deigned to deal with precision-guided incoming projectiles, and will provide a back-up to the Arrow air defense systems.
David’s Sling Multi Mission Radar was developed by IAI’s subsidiary, Elta.
Elbit Systems designed its command and control system, called Golden Almond.
