A David’s Sling system test in December 2015. Photo: United States Missile Defense Agency

JNS.org – An advanced Israeli missile was recovered by the Syrian military in 2018 and transferred to Russia for study, Chinese media reported on Wednesday.

According to China’s SINA news site, the missile, part of Israel’s David’s Sling defense system, came down in the Syrian Golan Heights after missing its target, believed to have been a Syrian missile.

The Israeli interceptor missile was one of two fired on July 23, 2018, in response to the launch by Syria of two Russian tactical ballistic missiles. When it became apparent that the missiles had not been fired at Israel, one of the David’s Sling interceptors was remotely destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces, whereas the second landed largely intact in the Syrian Golan.

Syrian forces dispatched to the crash site located and recovered the missile, and then handed it over to Russia for study.

David’s Sling, formerly known as “Magic Wand,” is a highly advanced missile defense system being jointly developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and US defense contractor Raytheon. The system is designed to intercept planes, drones, ballistic missiles, mid-to-long-range rockets, and cruise missiles.

While the David’s Sling system has been operational since 2017, the July 2018 launch by Israel is believed to have been its first use in combat.

According to the SINA report, Israel and the United States have asked Russia to return the missile.

Neither Russia nor Israel have commented on the report.