Follow up to a previous blog entry from only several days ago.
David has been lost!
Thanks to the latest edition of the DEBKAfile news letter:
"An Israeli David's Sling missile falls into Russian and Syrian hands"
24 July.
IDF = Israel Defense Forces.
"Two missiles of the David's Sling cutting-edge air defense system were launched against Syrian SS-21 missiles on Monday, July 23. One landed in Syria; the other one self-destructed. Both missed their targets. The IDF refrained from attempting to recover the lost missile, partly because it would have entailed a major military clash with Russian and Syrian forces. The top-line weapon is therefore now in the hands of their intelligence engineers [primarily I would think Russian], who have won a rare opportunity to study the secrets of Israel's high-tech weapon. Israel's most urgent task now is to ascertain what information they extract before determining how to redesign David's Sling and repairing any glitches revealed in its first performance before sending it back into service."
Capture of an enemy weapons system if only in bits and pieces of great value. Analysis to include [but not strictly limited to]: 1. Determine strengths of the system and incorporate same into your own weaponry. 2. Determine weakness of the system and eliminate same from your own weaponry.
You can bet the Russians are keen regarding this opportunity; information as gained by analysis of the missile the type of data only otherwise possible by espionage.
coolbert.