From 13 to 24 October 2025, this year’s Maritime Firing Exercise (MFE) of the German Navy. In that year, the frigate “Sachsen” took on the role of flagship, leading a convoy with several frigates, corvettes, supply ships, a submarine and an on-board helicopter.
In the two weeks of practice, training was more intensive than at any time in decades. A total of around 50 missile launches were carried out against targets in the air, at sea and on land, as well as numerous artillery and torpedo shots, in order to test the performance of the weapon systems under realistic operational conditions. The Army, Air Force and the Equipment, Information Technology and Utility (AINE) and international partners were involved in order to further develop cooperation and joint defense capabilities.
The proven firing range off the island of Andøya in Norway – around 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle – offered ideal conditions for this: away from civilian shipping routes, the units were able to test all types of missiles under safe conditions. Since 2016, the Navy has regularly used the area for test and practice shooting. An agreement between Germany and Norway from 2021 ensures that this will also be possible in the future.
For the first time, the Frigate “Sachsen” tested the most modern version of the Mk 41 starter system during the shooting exercise off Andøya. The weapon system allows the air defense frigate to fire various types of guided missiles. It was installed in the Warnemünde naval arsenal from 2023 during the depot maintenance and has already been extensively tested. The “Sachsen” is the first seagoing unit in the world to have this version.
This year, special attention was paid to the first use of a naval version of the Anti-aircraft missile system IRIS-T SLM Infra-Red Imaging System–Tail/Thrust Vector-Controlled, Surface-Launched Medium Range. In cooperation with the manufacturer Diehl Defence, a demonstrator variant was developed on the Frigate Baden-Württemberg.
The system was able to engage several targets precisely under realistic combat conditions and impressed with a high hit rate. This was an important step towards the possible series integration of IRIS-T SLM on German naval ships. With a range of around 40 kilometers and coverage of up to 20 kilometers, it closes a crucial gap between close-range air defense and long-range air defense.