Is Israel Going To War? Defense Ministry Successfully Tests Joint Trial Of Anti-Missile System

The Israeli Defense Ministry successfully completed a joint trial series of tests Wednesday of the newest version of David’s Sling anti-ballistic missile system, officials announced.

The trial was led by Israel’s state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in central Israel. David’s Sling is an Israel Defense Forces military system built to intercept short and medium-ranged tactical ballistic missiles. The system, previously known as Magic Wand, was jointly developed by the Israel Missile Defense Organization and the U.S. Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency.

“This test campaign is a critical step in ensuring Israel has the capability to defend itself from a very real and growing threat. We remain strongly committed to supporting Israel’s development of a missile defense system,” U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring said Wednesday.

Anti-ballistic missiles aim to intercept missiles and are used to transport missiles in a ballistic flight trajectory. David’s Sling is considered middle tier of Israel’s “multi-layer defense” while their Iron Dome system has the capacity to interrupt short-range missiles, qualifying it as the lowest layer, according to a Wednesday Times of Israel report.

“During the series of tests, after incoming missile detection, the MMR (multi-missile radar) located the targets and transferred the data to the central firing program, which calculated interception protocols,” the Defense Ministry said.

The anti-missile system is meant to intercept rockets with a range of 63 to 125 miles. The successful tests were part of a mission to advance the military system against “future threats,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

“We tested the systems against a number of scenarios that simulate future threats the system will likely face during a confrontation. The Magic Wand system is meant to provide an additional layer of defense against short and medium-range missiles and rockets, especially precision ones, and give the Arrow system more interception opportunities,” said the head of the Homa administration Moshe Fatal.