28 military exercises in force

Gunnery, firing and naval exercise areas.

What the archive shows

The available military exercises archive contains 35,855 messages across 29 issue years, from 1998 to 2026. The year links below provide the source and sea-area breakdowns for each period.

The current list includes messages issued from 2022-03-23 to 2026-09-26. A warning can remain in force for an extended operation, so this list is not a list of new incidents.

nga_inforce accounts for 27 of 28 recorded messages (96%), the largest source in the current list group in this selection.

The NGA archive froze in 2024-05; live collection began 2026-08-17. Counts near that gap are incomplete. Separate messages may describe updates to the same activity.

Archive by year · 35,855 since 1998

Terms used in exercises warnings

Hazardous operations: NGA's heading for activities that make an area dangerous — most often rocket launches, space debris and weapons firings, and some open-ended danger areas.
Gunnery and live firing: Naval or coastal guns firing into a sea area for practice, at stated times.
Towed array / streamer: Equipment towed a long way behind a vessel — sonar, a hydrophone cable, a sampling sled — invisible at the surface.
Missile firing: Missile tests or exercises, with the danger area and times during which missiles may be in flight or falling.
Naval exercise: Warships, submarines or aircraft exercising in an area, sometimes with firings, sometimes simply to keep traffic clear.
Submarine operations: Submarines may be exercising submerged in the area; ships are asked to keep a lookout and avoid it.

Guide: Rocket launches and space debris: why areas of ocean close

All warning terms →

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