Itongadol.- The Ministry of Defense and the US Missile Defense Agency successfully held a missile drill on Tuesday morning in the Mediterranean Sea and in a testing area at an Israel Air Force base in central Israel, and confirmed doing so shortly after Russia said it detected missile launches at sea.
A senior Israeli defense source said Tuesday that the test had been planned well in advance, and was part of the prescheduled drill program.
The experiment, conducted by the Ministry of Defenses\’ Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, occurred at 9:15 a.m. It involved the firing and tracking of a Sparrow-type target missile.
"The experiment tested enhanced capabilities of a new type of target missile from the Sparrow series," the Ministry of Defense said. "Arrow anti-missile defense systems, including radars and a command and control system, were also tested," the ministry added.
The time of the missile drill coincides with the report by Moscow that it had detected two ballistic missiles launched from the same region of the sea.
The Russian embassy in Damascus, however, was quick to affirm that there was no evidence of a missile strike on Syria.
Tensions in the region are high, following US President Barack Obama\’s recent declaration that he believes the US should strike the Syrian regime over its alleged use of chemical weapons against its own population. Russia has strenuously objected to such a move, arguing that the Obama administration does not have sufficient proof of such a chemical weapons attack.