David's Sling
Israel's mid-tier mobile air and missile defense system — a hit-to-kill interceptor designed to defeat short-range ballistic missiles, large rockets, cruise missiles and aircraft, sitting between Iron Dome and the Arrow family and increasingly central to Israel's layered shield.
Israel's mid-tier mobile air and missile defense system, designed to intercept short-range ballistic missiles, large rockets, cruise missiles, and aircraft, forming the central layer between Iron Dome and the Arrow family.
Overview
David's Sling — formally the David's Sling Weapon System (DSWS) and formerly known as Magic Wand — is a mobile medium-to-long-range air and missile defense system jointly developed by Israel and the United States. It fills the gap between the short-range Iron Dome and the exo-atmospheric Arrow-2/Arrow-3 interceptors, and since 2025 has been used extensively against Iranian ballistic missiles. The system’s Stunner interceptor relies on hit-to-kill physics rather than an explosive warhead, guided by a distinctive dual-seeker “dolphin nose” that combines electro-optical/infrared and active radar sensors. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is the prime contractor, with Raytheon (RTX) providing about half the components, and the ELM-2084 multi-mission radar is built by IAI Elta.
Development
Rafael was contracted in 2006 to field a solution for the medium-to-long-range rocket threat exposed in the 2006 Lebanon war, particularly the Khaibar-1/Fateh-110 class. A formal U.S.–Israel co-development agreement signed in August 2008 brought Raytheon into the Stunner interceptor program, with the U.S. providing roughly $1.99 billion in development and procurement aid through fiscal year 2020, according to CSIS. Flight-test campaigns ran from November 2012 (DST-1) to March 2019 (DST-6), all successful. The Israeli Air Force received its first batteries in 2016, and the system was declared operational at Hatzor airbase on 2 April 2017, completing Israel’s four-tier shield alongside Iron Dome, Arrow-2, and Arrow-3.
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