Allied Forces Conducts Maritime Live-Fire Exercise off Andøya, Northern Norway

Exercise Mjølner began on May 1 and will continue until May 8 at the Norwegian Arctic firing range off Andøya in Vesterålen.

In total, around 2,500 soldiers from Norway, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium are participating. Eight ships from the Norwegian, German and Danish navies are operating at sea. The Norwegian Army's artillery battalion is also participating with combat air defense.

The main objective of the exercise is to ensure credible air and missile defense. The exercise focuses on enhancing interoperability, improving procedures and building operational readiness under a high level of stress. 

“This is a high-intensity exercise with round-the-clock operations and great unpredictability,” says the Spokesperson of the Norwegian Navy, Commander Kjartan Sildnes, to High North News.

“While many exercises are based on a specific threat picture, exercise Mjølner involves the arrival of various types of air threats at short notice that the participants must act quickly on. To neutralize these, both missiles and other types of ammunition are fired,” he continues.

Highly relevant

“Exercises on defense against air and missile threats have become even more relevant in light of the current security situation. It is important that we and our allies are well integrated and have solid preparedness to be able to handle such threats,” the commander points out.

Exercise Mjølner is held every two years and is now led by Germany for the first time. The German Navy last conducted a major live-fire exercise off Andøya in October.

“Germany is one of our most important allies and we are very pleased that German forces regularly train and exercise in our immediate areas. Together we expect good results from exercise Mjølner,” says Sildnes. 

In February, Norway and Germany entered into a comprehensive bilateral defense agreement known as the Hansa Agreement.