This year’s Maritime Firing Exercise (MFEMissile Firing Exercise) of the German Navy will take place from 13 to 24 October 2025 off the coast of Norway. This time, the frigate “Sachsen” takes on the role of flagship and leads a fleet of up to ten German units, including frigates, corvettes, tenders, supply ships, on-board helicopters and a submarine.
The two-week exercise will be carried out in the proven shooting area around the Norwegian archipelago of Andøya. This year is the Navy’s largest shooting project in decades. In the coming days, up to 54 missile launches, but also torpedo and artillery shots will be rehearsed to test the performance of the weapon systems under realistic conditions.
In addition to the German naval forces, the German Army, the Air force and international partners on the ground to jointly strengthen cooperation and further develop defense capabilities in the maritime space.
This shooting project is not only proof of Germany’s deterrence capability, but also shows that the navy is ready for national and alliance defense. The German Navy thus demonstrates that it is ready to use its capabilities at any time, regardless of the sea area.
Since 2016, the German Navy has been regularly using the firing range with ships and aircraft for test and practice shooting with missiles, torpedoes and artillery. The Andøya shooting range is located in the northern part of Norway, about 300 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. Here, the Navy can test all its types of missiles without endangering bystanders. The firing range is located far from the sea routes of civilian shipping. In this way, each ship gets training parts that are specially adapted to its abilities, such as the ranges of its main weapons.
The relative geographical proximity to Germany and the favorable conditions on site make Andøya a Space Defence and its facilities for the Navy the first choice for firing exercises. For this reason, the German and Norwegian Ministries of Defence signed an agreement in spring 2021 that sets out the legal and administrative framework for shooting projects in the coming years.