Decision to destroy the Davids Sling interceptor missile

The decision to destroy last Monday one of David's interceptor missiles in the air was the right decision, according to the complete debriefing of the Israeli Air Force ( IAF) following the failure of the system
to intercept two Syrian missiles SS-21 his first attempt.

Israel launched its David's air defense system for its first Sling
On Monday, a still operational mission was launched as a precaution against rocket fire in neighboring Syria, triggering sirens in communities in northern Israel, said the Israeli army

.

The rockets fell inside Syrian territory and were part of internal fighting, according to a statement from the army.

"In light of the identification of the threat and given the tight schedule, the decision-making process was correct," said officials of the IAF

.

It was published last week that perhaps the decision to destroy one of the interceptor missiles near the Kinneret would be a bad decision, because in retrospect, the interceptor could have continued its flight up to # 39 to hit the big target coming from the southeast.

"Additional technical aspects of the incident can not be published for information security reasons All findings from the debriefing will be implemented in the air defense system" said the unit IDF spokesman.

The cause of the failure is probably technological in nature, and unrelated to the Air Force system operators, who made a reasonable decision to launch the two standing missile interceptor missiles David's Sling in the north.

Unlike the Iron Dome system, David's Sling is not mobile. But just like Arrow systems, David Sling provides coverage of his fixed location to the entire country.

The initial investigation revealed that the planned point of impact of the two Syrian missiles, which were in the air for 1-1.5 minutes, was deep in the northern region d & # 39; Israel. Therefore, the decision to launch the interception missiles was justified, even though it may not have been economically justified, since the cost of each missile is $ 1 million.

Operators' judgment not to take risks was based on beach considerations. The distance between the location of David's Sling in the north of the country and the possible interception coordinates of the two Syrian missiles was more than 100 km, while the maximum range of SS-21 missiles is 70 km. of essence.

Investigative teams consisting of representatives of the manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Missile Defense Organization of the Ministry of Defense (MDO) and the Army of the Israeli air launched an investigation Monday morning on the Golan Heights.

David Sling was declared operational a year ago to face significant threats such as heavy rockets and ballistic missiles in the layer above the iron dome and under Arrow systems.

David Sling is supposed to be able to confront the two SS-21 ground-to-ground missiles built by the Soviets and launched by the Syrian army against the rebels. The missiles, called SS-21 by NATO, are called "Tochka" in Russian, meaning "dot", which indicates their accuracy.

SS-21 missiles were developed in the 1970s by the Soviet Union and were sold to the Syrian army. The range of the missile is 14 to 70 kilometers. It weighs 2.5 tons, of which 480 kilograms constitute the warhead, which disperses a large amount of spray when it reaches its target. Its diameter is 65 centimeters. The SS-21 is fired from a single launcher, such as a truck, and is directed into the air by end-of-wing devices.

Israeli defense systems are expected to recognize and categorize the SS-21 missile in seconds and react accordingly.