The Ministry of Defense’s Homa Administration successfully carried out a successful flight test Monday of the Arrow 3 (in Hebrew: Hetz 3) anti-missile missile, in conjunction with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

The Defense Ministry said that the test was intended to check the flight systems of the missile, which is meant to provide added high-altitude protection against missiles and to solidify the defensive array protecting Israel from the long range missile threat.

The Arrow 3 will be able to intercept ballistic missiles with longer ranges than the ones that Arrow 2 can bring down, and it will do so at higher altitudes. It is part of the multi-layer defense system that is intended to protect the state of Israel, which also includes the Iron Dome system and the Magic Wand system.

Iron Dome, which is already operational and functioned very well during Operation Pillar of Defense, deals primarily with short range missiles. Magic Wand will deal with the medium-range threat.

Development of the Arrow 3 is expected to take two more years, whereas Magic Wand is due to become operational in 2014.