David’s Sling during one of its final tests. Photo: Wikipedia.

The United States and Israel announced that delivery of the David’s Sling missile defense system to the Israel Air Force (IAF) has begun, the Hebrew news site Walla reported on Tuesday.

The US Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency and the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure said David’s Sling had successfully completed a month of testing as part of the US-Israel “Juniper Cobra 16” military exercise. This included a series of live-fire tests against heavy rockets and short-range ballistic missiles.

The Defense Ministry said the system was being delivered to the IAF gradually, in stages, to allow for the proper integration of its components.

Jointly funded and developed by the US and Israel, David’s Sling – also known as Magic Wand – will act as the Jewish state’s intermediary missile interceptor, one tier above the Iron Dome. It will primarily be deployed against medium-range Hezbollah rockets — longer-range than those of Hamas, which the Iron Dome managed mostly to intercept during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014.