What are Israel’s Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow missile defences?

Its “Stunner” missiles are designed to shoot down short-range, mid-range and long-range ballistic missiles at low altitudes. Like Iron Dome, David’s Sling only targets missiles which threaten built-up areas.

Both David’s Sling and Iron Dome are designed also to intercept aircraft, drones and cruise missiles.

Each David’s Sling missile costs about $1m.

The system was used in September 2024 to shoot down a ballistic missile fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

The IDF said this was an Iranian-made Qadr-1 – a medium-range ballistic missile that can carry a warhead of between 700kg and 1,000kg.

Hezbollah said the missile was aimed at the headquarters of Mossad in Tel Aviv, but the IDF said it was heading towards a residential area.

David’s Sling was also used in May 2023 when Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group in Gaza, launched over 1,100 missiles at Israel. Israel says it shot down 96% of the rockets which posed a threat.