July 31, 2023: The Israeli David’s Sling (formerly Magic Wand) air defense system recently underwent additional test firings to confirm that new capabilities worked properly. Details of those were not revealed but apparently had to do with a battery being able to deal with several different threats simultaneously. Such complex attacks are rare, but they do happen and the ability to handle such situations is important. Israel is small, with land borders totaling only a thousand kilometers. The country is 420 kilometers long and up to 115 kilometers wide. Two David's Sling batteries could cover the entire country, including the sea border. Currently attacks (with rockets or missiles) come from the north (Lebanon and Syria) and the south (Gaza).

David’s Sling was designed to defeat aircraft, rockets and missiles (cruise or ballistic). A David’s Sling battery costs $250 million and consists of a search radar with a max range of 474 kilometers, a fire control vehicle and six missile launchers, each with six or twelve Stunner missiles. A tractor trailer version of the launcher is less mobile but carries twelve missiles. Each battery has some reloads, giving each battery up to 48 missiles. Each Stunner missile weighs 400 kg (880 pounds) and is stored in and launched from a sealed container. Stunner is a two-stage missile with a max range of 250 kilometers. The warhead does not contain explosives but rather has sensors that enable the warhead to collide with the target at high speed and destroy it. Because David’s Sling batteries are mobile, they can regularly change location in peacetime to make it more difficult for an attacker to carry out a successful SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) effort.

David’s Sling entered service in 2017. This was a year later than expected because earlier testing had revealed some potential problems that required fixing. Israel is very exacting about such technical problems because these weapons are the first line of defense against threats that are very real by enemies who openly call for the destruction of Israel. That attitude towards quality control also makes Israeli weapons easier to find export customers for. David’s Sling got its first combat test in May 2023 when Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried out a major, five day rocket and missile attack on Israel from bases in Gaza. Some 1,300 rockets were fired at Israel and about a thousand entered Israeli air space. The Iron Dome system destroyed nearly all the projectiles headed for populated areas and David's Sling intercepted some larger, longer range rockets. There were only two deaths in Israel, both of them civilians.

Israel retaliated with airstrikes using jet fighters launching guided bombs and missiles while attack helicopters also fired some guided missiles. Israel used local informants and aerial surveillance to locate key targets. These included the current location of six senior Islamic Jihad leaders as well as about 400 rocket storage or launch sites as well as military bases and safehouses. Islamic Jihad was not expecting Israeli air defenses to be so effective or Israeli retaliation to be so extensive.

Current Israeli air defenses have three layers. First there is Iron Dome to handle rockets and mortar shells launched from Gaza and Lebanon which comprise most of the projectiles fired at Israel. Iron Dome has been in service since 2011 and David's Sling handles the larger, longer range and often guided rockets as well as armed UAVs. The Arrow system has been in service since 2000 and is for longer range ballistic missiles fired from Iran. So far those missile attacks have only been a threat but Iran has them and they are aimed at Israel.

David’s Sling is the Israeli replacement for existing American Patriot and Hawk missile air defense systems. During 2015 Israel conducted several successful tests of David’s Sling, including some that included intercepting and destroying a short range ballistic missile and other targets representing manned aircraft. David’s Sling was supposed to be ready for deployment in 2016. But as happened several times before there were new technical problems that had to be fixed. David’s Sling was originally expected to enter service in 2014.

In development since 2006, David’s Sling was designed to be an improvement over American made Patriot systems Israel was using. The Stunner missile has a longer range and better capabilities than the Patriot missiles. The American manufacturer of Patriot cooperated with an Israeli firm to develop and produce David’s Sling and plans to use some David’s Sling features for Patriot upgrades.

David’s Sling is meant to complement the Israeli Iron Dome anti-rocket system, which can take down rockets with a range of up to 70 kilometers. Iron Dome has a unique feature in which the radar system computes where the incoming rocket will land. If the rocket will not hit an inhabited area, it will be ignored. Otherwise, an interceptor missile will be fired. Stunner will be used against larger rockets that will be aimed (by Syria, Hamas or Hezbollah) at large urban areas, and these will almost always get a Stunner fired at them. This is part of the two layer (Iron Dome and David’s Sling) system for defending Israelis from rocket and missile attacks. David’s Sling is replacing the 17 Hawk anti-aircraft batteries as well and, eventually, the six Patriot batteries.