David's Sling missile defense system was sold by Israel for the first time
Photo: Israel sold the David's Sling missile defense system to another country for the first time (mil in ua)
Israel has sold the David's Sling missile defense system to Finland. This is the first deal to sell this missile defense complex abroad, as reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Israel.
The agreement for the sale was signed by the Ministry of Defense of Israel with representatives of Finland and the manufacturing company, Rafael.
The missile defense system costs 317 million euros. David's Sling was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to intercept medium to long-range missiles and cruise missiles launched within a range of 40 to 300 km.
The Ministry of Defense of Israel claims that David's Sling is considered one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world. It provides a multi-layered anti-missile defense, including the Iron Dome system for short-range, as well as Arrow-2 and "Arrow-3 for long-range missiles.
The Israel Defense Forces received the David's Sling missile defense system over seven years ago. Until May 2023, it was used only once – to intercept a missile launched from Syria.
The second deployment of David's Sling occurred in May 2023 during another escalation with the Gaza Strip. The missile defense system successfully intercepted a rocket heading towards Jerusalem. The cost of intercepting one rocket using David's Sling is approximately one million dollars.
In August, it was reported that the United States had granted permission for Finland to purchase the Israeli missile defense system David's Sling.
