Magic Wand missile makes first flight

The Israeli Defense Ministry recently carried out a test flight trial of the Magic Wand missile-defence system, it announced on 26 November. The trial was carried out by the Defense Ministry's Department for Research in the Development of Means of Combat and Technological Infrastructure, together with personnel from the US Missile Defense Agency.

A joint development by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Raytheon, Magic Wand is based on a missile designated Stunner. It is intended to provide Israel with an additional layer of protection against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles and rockets with ranges of 40 to 250 km. The lower-tier Iron Dome system is intended to deal with 4 to 70 km-range rockets, such as the Qassam, Grad, and Katyusha.

The designation David's Sling Weapon System has also been reported for the Magic Wand programme.

Stunner is a two-stage weapon in which an interceptor of Sidewinder-style configuration is boosted by a larger-diameter first stage. The nose section is asymmetric, a configuration that suggests the use of dual-mode guidance, with what will probably be a millimetric-wave radar seeker in the extreme nose and a dual-frequency infrared sensor mounted behind an obliquely mounted optical transparency.