(JNS.org) The Israeli Navy secretly and successfully tested an upgraded anti-missile system designed to protect naval vessels, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.

The defense system, which uses Barak 8 missiles, was upgraded to confront the growing threat of Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles. Russia has been supplying Syria with Yakhont missiles since 2010. Lebanon-based Hezbollah is also believed to possess the missiles. The test was conducted as part of a general overhaul of the navy’s defense systems, which also provide protection for offshore drilling rigs. According to the IDF, the exercise involved a mock Yakhont missile fired from the sea, which was successfully intercepted by a Barak missile fired from an Israeli Navy missile boat.