A picture taken on February 11, 2018 shows an Israeli Iron Dome defence system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming rockets and artillery shells. (AFP Photo)

JERUSALEM, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Defense Ministry said Monday Israel and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency conducted overnight a "successful" test of the Arrow-3, a defense system against long range missiles.

The Arrow-3 system, which can intercept ballistic missile while they are still in the atmosphere, was developed by the U.S. and Israel.

The Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement that the trial was conducted in central Israel at 2:30 am (0:30 GMT.)

"The Defense Ministry and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency carried out a successful planned flight test of its Arrow 3 system," the statement read.

"An Arrow-3 interceptor was launched and carried out its mission," the statement added.

The successful trial followed two tests that had to be canceled in the last minutes in the past months, one due to data transfer failure and the other due to safety concerns.

The Arrow-3 is Israel's most advanced missile-defense system.

It is part of the country's multi-layer defense doctrine, which includes Iron Dome, a system aimed at intercepting short range rockets from Gaza; David's Sling, which can intercept medium-range missiles owned by the Iran-backed Hezbollah organization in southern Lebanon; and the long range Arrow-3 anti ballistic missiles system.