Direct proof of use
The Barak LR / LRAD interceptor is directly documented in the 2025 Israel-Iran Conflict through Israeli military and manufacturer accounts of naval air-defense engagements. On June 16, 2025, the Israel Defense Forces reported that Israeli Navy missile ships had intercepted eight UAVs launched from Iran overnight and that, for the first time, an interception had been carried out with the Barak Magen aerial-defense system and the long-range air-defense system LRAD.
Israel Aerospace Industries later described the same wartime debut from the deck of a Sa'ar 6 vessel during Operation Rising Lion. IAI said an aerial threat launched from Iran was intercepted using Barak Magen and its LRAD long-range interceptor, and identified the mission as part of the Israeli Navy's defensive work against hostile aerial vehicles attempting to enter Israeli airspace.
Sources: IDF Barak Magen LRAD Operational Employment, IAI Naval Barak First Combat Action
Timeline
The conflict opened on June 13, 2025, when Israel began Operation Rising Lion against Iranian targets and Iran retaliated with missile and UAV attacks. CRS describes the June fighting as a direct Israel-Iran conflict that included Israeli air strikes, Iranian ballistic-missile retaliation, U.S. strikes on June 22, and a ceasefire announced for June 24.
The Barak LRAD milestone occurred during the first days of that exchange. The IDF dated the first operational Barak Magen/LRAD employment to the night before its June 16 release, while IAI's later account placed the first Sa'ar 6 LRAD interception on the fourth night of the fighting.
Sources: CRS Israel-Iran Conflict and Ceasefire, IDF Barak Magen LRAD Operational Employment, IAI Naval Barak First Combat Action
Narrative
In this conflict, Barak LRAD functioned as a naval force-protection and national air-defense interceptor rather than as an offensive weapon. The documented user was Israel, and the platform was the Israeli Navy's Sa'ar 6 missile-ship force. The IDF said Flotilla 3 missile ships operated in coordination with the Israeli Air Force and were deployed across arenas to defend Israeli skies.
The specific target type documented for the Barak Magen/LRAD debut was Iranian-launched UAVs. IAI's system background places LRAD inside the Barak MX family, a networked air-defense architecture for land and naval use, and lists Barak LR as the 70 km dual-pulse interceptor in that family. The public record does not establish every interceptor fired by the ships during the war; it does directly establish that LRAD was operationally used from a Sa'ar 6 ship against at least one aerial threat launched from Iran.
Sources: IDF Barak Magen LRAD Operational Employment, IAI Naval Barak First Combat Action, IAI Barak LR, IAI Barak MX
