Operations at sea

Gunnery and live firing

Naval or coastal guns firing into a sea area for practice, at stated times.

Gunnery and live-firing warnings define a danger area — often a sector or polygon off a coast — and the hours when firing will take place. Ships are told to remain clear and are sometimes warned that range safety vessels will be on station.

Many firing ranges are used on a regular schedule, so the same area appears again and again in the archive. The coordinates repeat; the dates change.

What the archive shows

11,614 messages in this archive use “Gunnery and live firing”, the earliest issued 1993-07-02 and the latest 2026-09-23. 2 of them are in force in the latest lists we collected. A hazard reported again and again counts once per message.

The largest yearly count is 2015, with 721 messages. Collection is incomplete between 2024-05 and 2026-08-17, so 2024, 2025 and 2026 are not comparable with fully collected years.

Exercises accounts for 10,800 of 11,614 recorded messages (93%), the largest warning type group in this selection.

Located messages that use it fall in 57 sea areas; the most frequent are Yellow Sea (1,347), Black Sea (1,093) and North Pacific Ocean (630).

Messages that use it are issued most often in September (1,201 across all years) and least often in December (770).

By warning series: HYDROPAC 6,412, HYDROLANT 4,392, NAVAREA XII 318 and HYDROARC 248, and 3 more.

Messages using it, by year of issue

'93

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'01

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'26

By month of issue, all years

Jan

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Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Where it appears · 57 sea areas

In force now · 2

HYDROPAC 2457/26 · Exercises · North Pacific Ocean2026-08-27 · in force
NORTH PACIFIC. 1. GUNNERY EXERCISES 2300Z TO 0900Z DAILY 31 AUG THRU 29 SEP IN AREA BOUND BY 28-15.15N 146-29.47E,…
Gunnery exercises 2300Z to 0900Z daily 31 aug thru 29 sep in area bound by 28-15.15N 146-29.47E, 25-25.16N… →
NAVAREA XI 392/26 · Exercises · North Pacific Ocean2026-08-27 · in force
NORTH PACIFIC, NANPO SHOTO. GUNNERY. 2300Z TO 0900Z COMMENCING DAILY 31 AUG TO 29 SEP. AREA BOUNDED BY 28-15-15N 146-29-47E…
2300Z to 0900Z commencing daily 31 aug to 29 sep →

How it reads in recent messages

HYDROPAC 2755/26 · Missiles · Arabian Sea2026-09-23
ARABIAN SEA. PAKISTAN. 1. MISSILE AND GUNNERY OPERATIONS 231900Z TO 251300Z SEP IN AREA BOUND BY 25-28.00N 063-18.00E, 25-28.00N…
Missile and gunnery operations 231900Z to 251300Z sep in area bound by 25-28.00N 063-18.00E, 25-28.00N… →
NAVAREA II 338/26 · Exercises · North Atlantic Ocean2026-09-22
CAP BLANC. SPECIAL OPERATIONS. FIRING EXERCISE. WITHIN 20 MILES OF: DELTA 23-35N 017-00W BETWEEN 270 AND 360 DEGREES NAVIGATE WITH…
Special operations →
NAVAREA II 334/26 · Exercises · North Atlantic Ocean2026-09-19
CAP BLANC. SPECIAL OPERATIONS. FIRING EXERCISE. WITHIN 20 MILES OF: DELTA 23-35N 017-00W BETWEEN 270 AND 360 DEGREES NAVIGATE WITH…
Special operations →
NAVAREA II 331/26 · Exercises · North Atlantic Ocean2026-09-16
CASABLANCA. SPECIAL OPERATIONS. FIRING EXERCISE. WITHIN 20 MILES OF: ALPHA 33-41N 008-03W BETWEEN 270 AND 360 DEGREES NAVIGATE WITH…
Special operations →
NAVAREA II 330/26 · Exercises · North Atlantic Ocean2026-09-15
CASABLANCA. SPECIAL OPERATIONS. FIRING EXERCISE. WITHIN 20 MILES OF: ALPHA 33-41N 008-03W BETWEEN 270 AND 360 DEGREES NAVIGATE WITH…
Special operations →
NAVAREA II 328/26 · Exercises · North Atlantic Ocean2026-09-15
CANARIAS, CAP BLANC. SPECIAL OPERATIONS. FIRING EXERCISE. WITHIN 20 MILES OF: CHARLIE 26-50N 014-00W BETWEEN 270 AND 360 DEGREES DELTA 23-35N…
Special operations →
NAVAREA II 327/26 · Exercises · North Atlantic Ocean2026-09-15
CASABLANCA. SPECIAL OPERATIONS. FIRING EXERCISE. WITHIN 20 MILES OF: ALPHA 33-41N 008-03W BETWEEN 270 AND 360 DEGREES NAVIGATE WITH…
Special operations →
HYDROPAC 2654/26 · Exercises · South Pacific Ocean2026-09-14
SOUTH PACIFIC. PERU. 1. GUNNERY EXERCISES 180200Z TO 230800Z SEP IN AREA BOUND BY 11-00.00S 078-08.00W, 11-00.00S…
Gunnery exercises 180200Z to 230800Z sep in area bound by 11-00.00S 078-08.00W, 11-00.00S 077-39.00W,… →

Earliest in the archive

NAVAREA IV 915/93 · Exercises1993-07-02
1. GUNNERY EXERCISES 05 THRU 11 JUL IN AREAS BOUND BY: A. 37-15N 75-30W, 37-15N 74-00W, 37-07N…
Gunnery exercises 05 thru 11 jul in areas bound by: a. 37-15N 75-30W, 37-15N 74-00W, 37-07N 74-00W, 37-02N… →

Often in the same message

Related terms

Naval exercise: Warships, submarines or aircraft exercising in an area, sometimes with firings, sometimes simply to keep traffic clear.
Missile firing: Missile tests or exercises, with the danger area and times during which missiles may be in flight or falling.
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.
Area bound by: Introduces a list of positions that are the corners of an area — the polygon the warning applies to.

Warning types that use it

Exercises — Gunnery, firing and naval exercise areas.

Counts cover the messages in this archive that use the term, recounted 2026-09-24; see coverage for what is collected and since when. Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA and coastal broadcasts.