World’s largest maritime drills begin in an increasingly tense Asia Pacific

The Rim of the Pacific exercises involve more than 25,000 personnel from 29 countries and will continue until August.

Hawaii, United States – In an era of increased tension and growing competition between China and the United States and its allies, the US Pacific Fleet is hosting Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), “the world’s largest international maritime exercise” in Hawaii.

Held every other year, RIMPAC this year brings together the armed forces of 29 countries for five weeks of training with the goal of strengthening multilateral relations and enhancing preparedness to promote “a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

Established in 1971 by Australia, Canada and the US, this year’s drills, which got under way on June 27, include the militaries of South Korea, Japan and India, as well as countries in Southeast and South Asia, Latin America and seven European nations.

Israel will also be participating in its third RIMPAC, prompting protests from pro-Palestinian groups in the region because of its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 37,000 people since October last year. RIMPAC public affairs confirmed Israel would take part but said it would have no aircraft or ships in the exercise. The Israeli military declined to answer questions about its participation in the exercise.

Military leaders say RIMPAC allows the navies that participate to enhance “interoperability and readiness … for a wide range of potential operations across the globe”. The exercise centres around combat and contingency training on land, in the air and at sea, with 150 aircraft, 40 surface ships, three submarines and more than 25,000 personnel conducting amphibious landings, urban combat training, anti-submarine warfare, ship sinking exercises, as well as cyber and space operations.