Israeli-American forces testing Arrow 3 interceptors.

Just a day after rude and deadly fire exchanges between Israel and Iran in Syria, the Israeli and US armed forces have successfully fired ballistic missile interceptors - the Arrow 3 - from Israeli airbases during tests.

Launcher unit of Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile (Picture source : VOANews video)

On January 21, the Israeli forces have carried out strikes on Iranian facilities which were in "its war-torn neighbour", killing 21 people, in response to the firing of a surface-to-surface rocket (intercepted by the Iron Dome system) likely launched by the Iranian forces.

On January 22, the Israeli MoD has decided, alongside its American allies, to test an Arrow 3 to demonstrate its defense capabilities to Iran. This test was a complete success, hitting its target efficiently and quickly.

The Arrow 3 is the latest development of Arrow anti-ballistic missile jointly developed by by Israel and United States. An Arrow 3 battery is expected to intercept salvos of more than five ballistic missiles within 30 seconds. The Arrow 3 can be launched into an area of space before it is known where the target missile is going. The Arrow 3 is a an upgrade variant of the Arrow 2 air defense missile system in service with Israeli Defence Forces.

The Arrow 3 missile has two powered stages which is based on hit-to-kill technology out of Earth's atmosphere and will be fitted with a high resolution Electro-Optical (EO) sensor. It should be able to intercept ballistic missiles, especially those carrying weapons of mass destruction, at altitudes of over 100 km, and with a reported range of up to 2,400 km. It could also be ship-based.