David sling
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Why in the news?
Israel was recently confirmed to be using its David Sling air-defense system to intercept Hamas rockets.
About David Sling:
- The name David Sling is taken from the Biblical story of David and Goliath.
- David's Sling, also known as the Magic Wand, is an Israeli medium-to-long-range air defense missile system.
- It is designed to intercept and destroy a variety of aerial threats, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and large-caliber rockets.
- Co-developed with the United States, the David Sling is the central part of Israel's sophisticated and multi-layered air-defense network.
- Development of the David Sling began in the early 2000s in response to increasing regional missile threats facing Israel.
- The primary focus was to create a missile defense system that could fill the gap between the short-range Iron Dome system and the long-range Arrow missile defense system, providing a comprehensive multi-layered defense shield.
Features of David Sling:
- The David Sling air-defense system consists of a vertical missile firing unit, a fire control radar, a battle management/operator station, and stunner interceptors.
- Weight: 400 kg.
- Each firing unit can hold up to 12 missiles.
- It is designed to intercept ballistic and cruise missiles at ranges of 40 to 300 km.
- It uses a three-pulse solid propellant motor to reach speeds of up to Mach 7.5.
- Its first two pulses accelerate the missile through its initial trajectory, while the third activates to operate the interceptor and increase speed before interception.
- Unlike Iron Dome, the Stunner has no warhead, defeating the target by directly attacking it.
Each Stunner missile costs an estimated $1 million to produce.