The Israeli Navy conducted a successful test of a long-range interceptor missile against an “advanced” cruise missile, the military and Defense Ministry announced Wednesday.
The LRAD missile, part of the Barak MX defense system, is developed by the Israeli Aerospace Industries and the Defense Ministry’s research and development division, known by the Hebrew acronym MAFAT.
In the trial this month, the Sa’ar 6-class corvette INS Magen launched the missile after detecting a “target that resembled an advanced cruise missile” and destroyed it, according to the joint statement.
The Israel Defense Forces said the missile is capable of foiling a myriad of aerial threats including planes, UAVs, cruise missiles, unguided rockets, and coast-to-sea missiles.
“The system constitutes a significant layer in the air defense capabilities of the Navy, in achieving naval superiority and its involvement in the IDF’s aim of overcoming a variety of threats and scenarios from the sea and the coast,” the military said in a statement.
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The announcement comes weeks after tensions ran high between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group, as the latter had threatened Israeli gas installations.
After over a year of US-brokered talks, both Israel and Lebanon’s governments backed a final text of the maritime border deal last month.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps was accused of striking an Israeli-owned oil tanker off the coast of Oman with an explosive-laden drone.
Tehran and Israel have been engaged in a years-long shadow war in the wider Middle East, with several drone attacks targeting Israeli-associated vessels around the region.
