Israel and the United States on Tuesday carried out a successful test of the Arrow anti-missile system, intercepting a test ballistic missile, the Israeli defence ministry said.

The Arrow system "successfully detected and tracked the target and transferred information to the Citron Tree battle management control system," the statement said.

The system "launched an interceptor missile which performed its planned trajectory and destroyed the target missile. The test represented a realistic scenario and all the elements of the weapon system performed in their operational configuration."

Defence Minister Ehud Barak described the test as "an important milestone in the effort that the defence ministry is investing in the development of the Arrow multi-layered active air defence system."

The Arrow, a costly project launched two decades ago, is designed to counter strikes mainly from archfoe Iran and has successfully intercepted missiles comparable to Iran's Shihab-3 in a variety of conditions.

It was launched in 1988 during the now-defunct Star Wars programme initiated under late US president Ronald Reagan and stepped up after Israel was hit by 39 Iraqi Scud missiles during the 1991 Gulf War.

Development of the system is now half-funded by Israel's main ally, the United States.