Hamas starts firing long-range Ayash-250s at Israel, IDF uses Sling of David
This was only the second launch for the Ayash-250, and the third real combat interception of a target for the Sling of David.
After using Qassam rockets, Hamas militants began firing more long-range Ayash-250 missiles at Israel.
At least one rocket was fired today, November 13, targeting the city of Tzfat, about 200 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. The range of the Ayash-250 is declared to be up to 250 km.
And this is only the second episode using this missile. Before that, it was launched only once on May 13, 2021, at Ramon Airport.
To intercept the missiles, Israel used the Sling of David missile defense system, noting that it was able to intercept an Ayash-250 near Haifa.
The basis for the development of the missile was the Iranian Badr-3 missile. It has a shorter range of about 60 km and carries a 250 kg warhead. The missile features an aerial detonation at an altitude of about 20 meters and ready-made warheads with a range of up to 350 meters.
At the same time, this is only the third real combat use of the Sling of David missile defense system to intercept enemy missiles. The first two episodes occurred on April 10 and April 12, 2023, when unnamed rockets fired from the Gaza Strip were successfully intercepted. But their targets were supposed to be Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, about 60-70 kilometers from the nearest launch area.
The Sling of David has a declared missile interception range of 40 to 300 km, and the Stunner missile, which uses a two-stage scheme, accelerates to Mach 7.5.
And it is this complex, instead of Patriot PAC 3, that Finland has chosen, which plans to purchase an undisclosed number of Sling of David systems worth 316 million euros. At the same time, even if we are talking about a single Sling of David complex, it is still three times cheaper than Patriot.
