A battery of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Photo: IDF.

A next generation version of Israel’s famed Iron Dome missile defense system has successfully completed an initial series of tests, Hebrew media outlets reported on Sunday.

Iron Dome is part of a multi-layered defense program, concentrating on the interception of short-range rockets and missiles. It has proven enormously successful against rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The improved version of the aerial defense system intercepted a series of projectiles in a variety of scenarios, according to the local news website Mako.

The tests were conducted by the Israel Defense Forces and Ministry of Defense’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure.

The new Iron Dome is the first major upgrade of the system in the 10 years since its first trial. To date, it has intercepted more than 2,400 projectiles.

Moshe Patel, head of the Defense Ministry’s Israeli Missile Defense Organization, said, “Over the past decade, we have performed dozens of interceptions in trials and over two thousand operational interceptions.”

“The system tested in the current series of experiments is an upgraded and improved system compared to the operational system today,” he added.

“When we deliver it to the IDF,” he said, “it will allow the Air Force to deal much better with the projected threats in the field.”