Tel Aviv. The US army may become a customer for the Rafael David’s Sling air defence system.

Rafael and Raytheon are offering the Israeli company’s David’s Sling to the US army. This is to close the gap in the protection of American and allied forces. These forces have recently been attacked by advanced weapons systems made by Iran.

“After deploying two Iron Dome systems, the Americans are seriously looking at our David’s Sling air defense system,” Brig. Gen. (res.) Pini Yungman, EVP and Head of Rafael’s air and missile defense systems division said.

In recent years the Iranian affiliated terror groups in Iraq and Yemen have succeeded in attacking US targets that were exposed to the militias weapon systems, mainly rockets but also cruise missiles and armed drones.

An Israeli source said that the rockets were launched from a “disguised” launcher carried by a truck and “the threat could not be detected until seconds before launch when the launcher was erected.”

The low efficiency of US made air defense systems deployed in the Gulf region became clear on September 16, 2019 when the Saudi Aramco’s oil production facilities near Abkhik were attacked by cruise missiles launched from mobile launchers deployed near Zubair, about 10 kilometers west of the southern Iraqi port city of Basra.

The oil facilities were protected by the Patriot PAC-2 that the US sold to Saudi Arabia.

The investigation of the attack revealed that the radars of the PAC-2 detected the threats cruise missiles and armed drones very late and the launched interceptors missed.

Attacks by low-flying armed drones and cruise missiles are the serious threats on US forces mainly in the Gulf region.

The US army, is looking at the Israeli company’s SkyCeptor interceptor of the David’s Sling, as the solution to defend from the growing threat of cruise missiles and armed drones.

“Together with Raytheon we offer to integrate the SkyCeptor into the US army Patriot launchers. We are planning a full demo with Raytheon towards the end of the year. This demo will prove that we have the best protection against advanced threats like cruise missiles and in a price that is much lower than any other potential solution.”

The US interest in the David’s Sling grew after a series of tests with the system performed last December in Israel.

The David Sling interceptor was launched against targets that depicted cruise and ballistic missiles. The tests were led by Rafael from a testing site in central Israel, with the participation of the Israel Air Force and Navy.

The launch was performed from Israeli navy SAAR 5 missile boat. The tests were conducted at sea because some of the simulated threats were “highly maneuverable” and that called for greater safety margins.

The series tested the capabilities of a new and advanced version of the David’s Sling weapon system, and included a number of scenarios simulating future threats.

An Israeli expert said that the David’s Sling is the right answer for threats that the US army has to deal with more frequently. “These include cruise missiles and different types of rockets. The Patriot PAC-3 can be used but its price is three to four times higher than the David’s Sling SkyCeptor interceptor.”

Rafael and Raytheon are confident that more Iron Dome systems will be purchased by the US armed forces, not only the army and that the evolving threats will result on deploying the David’s Sling interceptors in existing US air defense systems.

The two companies have formed a joint company R2S and, are upgrading an existing Raytheon facility in Camden to be able to manufacture the two Israeli developed systems.

-The writer is an International Roving Correspondent of the publication