U.S.-Israel To Develop David's Sling Missile Defense

U.S.-Israel To Develop David's Sling Missile Defense (NSI News Source Info) 8 August, 2008: TEL AVIV - The United States and Israel have concluded an agreement that officially kicks off the David's Sling development program, the newest bilateral effort to defend against a wide range of rockets, ballistic missiles and air-breathing threats. The David's Sling system will be designed to counter even very short-range threats, like those sometimes fired from Gaza. Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, signed the so-called Project Agreement during a visit here this week. "We're now out of the starting box. This agreement allows us to participate in a truly joint, co-managed program with the Israelis," Obering said. Unlike the U.S.-Israel Arrow interceptor, which is managed by Israel, funded jointly by the two countries, but intended only for Israeli defense, David's Sling will be co-managed, co-funded, and optimized to meet operational requirements of both governments. "We wanted a truly co-managed program because the United States will be very interested in this for our own purposes," Obering said. In an Aug. 7 interview, Obering described the David's Sling system - and its kinetic energy interceptor developed jointly by Rafael Ltd. and Raytheon Co. - as "an extremely fast reaction system" aimed at intercepting a broad basket of threats. "We're talking about the very short-range rockets you're seeing coming out of Gaza and longer-range rockets that were fired from Lebanon, all the way to short-range ballistic missiles that can be launched from a distance of several hundred kilometers," Obering said. The Pentagon missile defense chief confirmed that David's Sling also will be designed to defend against cruise missiles and other air-breathing threats. "Since the time of flight [of enemy threats] is very short, the ability to very rapidly detect, track and engage different types of threats is of cardinal importance. And given the enemy's variety of munitions, you don't necessarily know what's coming; whether it's a Qassem, a Katyusha or something else entirely. You're not sure, so you have to be ready and able to handle it all," he said. Obering declined to estimate overall program costs or the percentage that each government will contribute to the joint effort. "The agreement we just signed allows us to work through specific cost-sharing arrangements and other program parameters," he said. He said MDA has proposed ramping up funding support in its five-year POM, which has yet to be approved. Congress already has appropriated about $65 million since 2006 for the Rafael-Raytheon program, while Israeli officials here said MoD has contributed a similar amount over the past four years. In an interview earlier this year, an Israeli MoD official estimated that it would cost nearly $400 million to conclude development and begin low-rate production of the Stunner interceptor. He noted that MoD aimed to contain unit costs to about $350,000. Initial deployment is targeted for 2011.