Key Points and Summary on Naval Strike Missile and Germany – In a significant boost for European coastal defense, Germany successfully test-fired a Norwegian-made Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from a land-based MARS 3 rocket launcher on July 2.
-The test, conducted in Norway, marks the first time the potent anti-ship cruise missile has been integrated with a mobile rocket artillery system in Europe.
-This innovative pairing, which combines the versatility of the MARS 3 (also known as EuroPULS) with the proven lethality of the NSM, gives Germany a highly mobile and survivable system to counter naval threats, reflecting key lessons learned from recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Red Sea.
‘First in Europe’: Germany Tests a Land-Based Naval Strike Missile
During the NATO summit at the Hague last month, Canada and the European members of the transatlantic military alliance—with the notable exception of recalcitrant Spain—agreed to fulfill U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s longstanding demand to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.
The breakdown of that 5 percent figure will consist of 3.5 percent on military spending proper plus 1.5 percent on “defense-related expenditures.”
One of those European countries that isn’t wasting any time on bolstering and modernizing its defensive capabilities is Deutschland, i.e., Germany.
This was most recently manifested in a live-fire demo of a coastal defense weapons system.
The Basics
The story comes to us from Defense News Army 2025 in a 3 July 2025 article for Army Recognition titled “Germany fires first Norwegian Naval Strike Missile from MARS 3 rocket launcher to reinforce coastal defense.”
As the author(s) state in the opening paragraph, “On July 2, 2025, KNDS Deutschland, Elbit Systems, and Kongsberg successfully conducted the first live-fire test of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from the MARS 3 rocket launcher, also known as EuroPULS, in Norway. The test used a single missile fired from an Iveco Trakker 8×8 wheeled platform and marked the first land-based launch of the NSM integrated into a multi-domain rocket artillery system in Europe.”
Significance
The task & purpose of this integration demo was to broaden MARS 3’s operational range by enabling maritime strike and coastal defense missions in addition to conventional land-attack roles.
It affirmed the versatility of MARS 3 platform, more specifically its ability to incorporate effectors with a naval engagement capability.
For good measure, the demo underscored MARS 3’s compatibility with a wide variety of munitions from different manufacturers.
Moreover, as the article points out, “The test firing demonstrates that cruise missiles can be launched from mobile land platforms with high survivability against countermeasures. The use of the 8×8 Iveco Trakker platform reduces additional logistical burdens by integrating the system onto in-service vehicle fleets. The combination of MARS 3 and NSM also reflects trends observed in other theaters such as Ukraine and the Red Sea, where mobile, land-based coastal defense systems using cruise missiles and loitering munitions have proven effective in contested environments.”
MARS and NSM History and Tech Specs in Brief
In this instance, “MARS” is a Bundeswehr acronym for the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS); it stands for Mittleres Artillerieraketensystem or Medium Artillery Rocket System. (Presumably it also has a double-meaning as an homage to the Roman god of war, who also had a planet named in his honor.)
MARS weapon systems have been in service with the German Army (Heer) since 1990. The MARS 3 variant in particular is the European configuration of the Israeli-developed PULS (Precise and Universal Launching System); its predecessor, MARS II, was the Deutsch designation for the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), which was originally designed in 1977 by the now-defunct Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) conglomerate and is manufactured nowadays by Lockheed Martin.
Depending on the munition type used, the MARS II can strike targets anywhere from 35 km (21 miles) in the case of the Acular 122 mm round to 300 km (186 miles) in the case of the Predator Hawk. (NOTE: Both the Acular and Predator Hawk are also made by the aforementioned Elbit Systems)
If and when integration with the Joint Fire Support Missile (JFS-M) is accomplished, that ability to “reach out and touch” (so to speak) the enemy will be extended to an even more impressive 499 km (310 miles)
As for the NSM, it was originally known by the Norwegian moniker of “Nytt sjømålsmissil“ (“New sea target missile”); its initial serial production contract was signed in June 2007, and it made its official operational debut in 2012. With its booster, the system weight 407 kg (807 lbs.) overall and packs a 125-kg (275-lb.) penetrating blast-fragmentation warhead.
It has an airspeed of Mach 0.93 (713 mph, 1,148 km/h, 620 knots) and has a standard maximum range of 185 km (114 miles); the Block 1A variant pushes that range capability past 300 km (186 miles).
Additional Developments
As further testament to the quality of the PULS system, it has earned the confidence of the militaries of Azerbaijan, Denmark, Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Spain, and Thailand, all of whom have adopted it.
Moving forward, the developers of the MARS 3 system have the following ambitious plans for it:
-Integrating of additional effectors such as MBDA’s RCM² (Remote Carrier Multidomain Multirole Effector), designed for use against aircraft, artillery systems, and ships.
-Ongoing cooperation with Diehl Defence to develop complementary deep-strike munitions.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).
