Israel activated a new aerial defense system – dubbed "Barak Magen," meaning "lightning shield" – for the first time on Sunday night, saying it intercepted and destroyed multiple Iranian drones.

The Israeli Navy intercepted eight Iranian drones using the "Barak Magen" and its long-range air defense (LRAD) interceptor, which were launched from an Israeli navy Sa’ar 6 missile ship, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

John Hannah, senior fellow at The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) and the co-author of a report published earlier this month on Israel’s defense against two massive Iranian missile attacks in 2024, told Fox News Digital on Monday that the air defense system "significantly enhances" the air and missile defense architecture of Israel’s navy.

"The Barak Magen is simply another arrow in the expanding quiver of Israel’s highly sophisticated and increasingly diverse multi-tiered missile defense architecture – which was already, by leaps and bounds, the most advanced and experienced air defense system fielded by any country in the world," Hannah said.

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The system can intercept a "wide range of threats," according to the IDF, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, high-trajectory threats and shore-to-sea missiles.

Hannah said the system not only provides force protection for the Israeli fleet but also gives long-distance protection to Israel’s expanding oil and gas infrastructure in the eastern Mediterranean, along with critical infrastructure and population centers located along Israel’s coastline.

"It allows Israel to conduct interceptions at significant distances from the Israeli homeland, both out in the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and thereby adds critically important strategic depth when defending Israel’s tiny geographic area," he said.

The IDF said that the Israeli Navy’s missile ship flotilla has intercepted about 25 UAVs that posed a threat to Israel since the conflict with Iran escalated.

Israel and Iran traded missile strikes for the fourth day on Monday, with Iran firing a new wave of strikes that killed at least eight people and wounded dozens more.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above Tehran, warning about 330,000 people in a central part of the Iranian capital to evacuate ahead of new strikes.

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Navy destroyer, air defense systems help intercept Iranian missiles

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer the USS Thomas Hudner.

A Navy destroyer and multiple ground-based air defense systems took part in intercepting Iranian missiles fired at Israel over the weekend. Additionally, the Navy is moving another destroyer to the Middle East in response to the ongoing fighting between Israel and Iran, as missile attacks and airstrikes from the two countries continue for the third day.

American ground, sea and air assets are participating in anti-air defensive operations in the Middle East, according to reports from the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal. The destroyer involved was not identified, but the U.S. military has several ships in the region. Those include the aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson and its carrier strike group, currently in the waters around the Middle East. That strike group has been there since May, when it joined then-ongoing military operations against Houthis.

Additionally, the Associated Press, citing multiple defense officials, noted that the U.S. Army ground-based air defense systems took part in missile interceptions over the weekend. The U.S. Army has Patriot missile batteries in the Middle East including in Iraq, and a Terminal High Altitude Air Defense or THAAD system, which was deployed to Israel in October 2024 along with dozens of soldiers to operate it. The Wall Street Journal reported that several U.S. fighter jets also took part in anti-air operations.

The Navy is moving the USS Thomas Hudner, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, to the eastern Mediterranean. The destroyer was operating in the Atlantic Ocean, including taking part in an exercise with partner forces last month. The ship previously took part in the early months of missile interception fights against Houthi forces in the Red Sea in 2023, before it returned to port in January 2024.

Fighting between Israel and Iran broke out on June 13, after Israel carried out several airstrikes around Iran, including the capital Tehran, targeting several high ranking military members and figures in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The two have since exchanged several barrages of attacks, with Iran having launched approximately 200 missiles and as many drones. Both nations have been successfully hit by the other. Israel and Iran had previously engaged in brief fighting last year, with American ground, sea and air-based forces taking part in efforts to shoot down Iranian missiles and drones before they could hit Israel.

Beyond the U.S. military’s established bases in the region, the Pentagon has several additional Air Force and Navy assets in or around the Middle East that were sent as part of Operation Rough Rider, the name for the fight against Houthis that wrapped up in May.