JERUSALEM, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) - Israel's U.S.-funded David's Sling missile defense system is about to be deployed for an intensive trial period before becoming operational, the military said.
The system, jointly developed by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. and U.S. firm Raytheon Co., is also known as Magic Wand.
It is designed to intercept various aerial threats, including rockets, aircraft and cruise missiles, at distances ranging from 40 km to 300 km.
The interceptor, known as "Stunner," is a two-stage missile that can reach a top speed of Mach 7.5 and consists of a kill vehicle with advanced steering for super maneuverability during the kill phase.
Once in operational service, the system will comprise the middle tier of Israel's multi-layered missile shield and would dramatically enhance the air force's ability to confront the increasing threat of rockets and missiles in the inventories of Gaza's Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.
Initial trials, which will be conducted in various parts of the country, will focus on David's Sling's ability to shoot down rockets and missiles with a range three times greater than the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system, which, since entering service in 2011, had intercepted hundreds of Qassam-type and other rockets fired by Gaza militants, the military said.
The initial testing will be followed by two further trials, in which the system will be pitted against aircraft and longer-range threats, including cruise missiles, it added.
"It should be allowed to work with other interception systems," Sgt.-Maj. Yishai Rosenberg, head of the David's Sling branch at the air force, was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying recently.
In a test held by Israel's Defense Ministry and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency in Nov. 2013, a Stunner interceptor successfully destroyed a ballistic missile in midair, sparking optimism among officials who attended the trial that Israel would soon be able to defend itself against more potent threats posed by its foes.
"What's special about it is that it knows how to intercept from a low altitude to a fairly high altitude in the atmosphere, covering a wide area which I can't disclose," Yair Ramati, head of the Defense Ministry's Israel Missile Defense Organization, said at the time.
While the development of David's Sling continues unabated and the air force plans to begin training operators and technicians, the system's operational deployment, which was originally scheduled for 2015, was postponed earlier this year due to defense budget cuts and a new date has not yet been announced.
A senior Israeli defense official said at a security conference in May that efforts were being made to secure funding for purchasing the "infrastructure," referring to deployable batteries that include a radar developed by Elta, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, command and control ground stations built by Elbit Systems and interceptor missiles that are estimated to cost one million U.S. dollars each.
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