Hezbollah Strike Destroys Israeli David’s Sling Air Defence Battery as War Enters New Phase – Reports

<p >The <a href=" target="_blank">Lebanese militia group Hezbollah</a> has destroyed a missile battery from an Israeli David’s Sling air defence system, according to a number of reports from local sources. The attack follows <a href=" target="_blank">multiple strikes</a> by the militia group over the past ten months <a href=" target="_blank">against Israeli Iron Dome</a> air defence systems with multiple successes. The David’s Sling forms a higher tier of Israel’s air defence network intended to intercept targets such as fighter aircraft and ballistic missiles, and has a relatively long range of over 200 kilometres and a high targeting altitude. The Iron Dome, by contrast, is a lighter and lower cost complementary asset optimised for neutralising lower level threats such as drones and artillery rockets. The targeting of a David’s Sling system indicates that Hezbollah intends to intensify higher level attacks on Israeli targets using ballistic missiles, with <a href=" target="_blank">prior strikes</a> having relied on lower end assets such as artillery. The reported destruction of one of the batteries comes four days after the system was reported to have seen its first ever use against a Hezbollah attack, as a ballistic missile was fired into Israel from Lebanon for the first time. </p><p ><img src=" title="Missile Launches From Iron Dome Air Defence System"></p><p >Destruction of David’s Sling systems can serve as an important force multiplier for Hezbollah’s ballistic missile arsenal as the ongoing war between its forces and Israel enters a new stage. Israel’s <a href=" target="_blank">assassination</a> of Hezbollah’s leader General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah on September 27, <a href=" target="_blank">targeting</a> of other key <a href=" target="_blank">leadership figures</a>, <a href=" target="_blank">detonation</a> of small bombs in communication devices across the country, and preparations for a full scale invasion of Southern Lebanon, guarantees that the militia group will begin to utilise higher end missile assets. Despite being considered by far the most capable system of its kind fielded by a Western-aligned state, the David’s Sling was notably reported to have <a href=" target="_blank">failed to intercept </a>a Yemeni ballistic missile strike in the early hours of September 15, after multiple interceptors were fired at the incoming projectile at least some of which are reported to have been from the David’s Sling. Israel’s <a href=" target="_blank">retirement of its Patriot</a> missile systems leaves the David’s Sling as its only asset capable of defending against short range ballistic missile attacks from Hezbollah. The contents of the Lebanese group’s ballistic missile arsenal, however, remains unknown, with some reports indicating that it may field North Korean Hwasong-11 solid fuelled ballistic missiles – otherwise known as the KN-02 system.</p>