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     BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli army successfully conducted its first nighttime trial of an anti-missile system Sunday night, local media quoted a senior official as saying.

    This is the 15th test of Arrow, an anti-missile system developed jointly by Israel and the United States to intercept medium and long-range ballistic missiles.

    Israel TV noted that Iran has deployed missiles with a range to reach Israel and is working on a nuclear program that Israel and the United States suspect is meant to produce atomic bombs.

    However, Moshe Fattal, the coordinator of the Defense Ministry administration that was in charge of the project, said there was no connection with the Iranian event.

    "What is important is that the system worked under extreme conditions, simulating those that might exist in reality," Fattal said. "This is a happy moment for us."

    Israeli Defense Ministry said that the purpose of the trial was "to study and improve the operational capabilities of the system, which include expansion of the interceptor envelope against future targets that might threaten Israel."

    In this trial, the system was examined in a combined operational configuration of two batteries that were at a geographical distance, while taking into consideration lessons learned in the past. The interceptor, manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries and Boeing, was launched at night, simulating an operational scenario in all its components, the Defense Ministry said.

    (Agencies)