Aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis and USS Abraham Lincoln speed towards Honolulu during RIMPAC 2000.

RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime exercise. Hosted and administered by the United States Navy, the Marine Corps and Coast Guard are also involved, as well as Hawai'i National Guard forces under the leadership of the Governor of Hawai'i. Also invited are allied military forces from the Pacific Rim nations. The event is held biennially in June and July in Honolulu, Hawai'i under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Command, headquartered at the Nimitz-MacArthur Pacific Command Center at Camp Smith near the Honolulu subdivision of Salt Lake.

RIMPAC coincides with Summer Pulse, the simultaneous deployment of seven aircraft carrier strike groups in the Pacific Rim. The deployment is a test of the Navy's Fleet Response Plan, a training, personnel and operations construct developed in 2004 intended to provide greater force readiness and the ability to deploy rapidly in an emergency.

Participants

The USS Abraham Lincoln Battle Group along with ships from Australia, Chile, Japan, Canada, and Korea speed towards Honolulu in RIMPAC 2000.

Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Peru, South Korea and the United Kingdom are regular participants. Several observer nations are invited, including, but not limited to, Chile, Ecuador, France, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore and Thailand.

The United States contingent alone may include as many as several aircraft carrier strike groups, a dozen submarines, up to a hundred aircraft and 12,000 sailors, marines, coast guardsmen and their respective officers. The size of the exercises may vary each year.

Purpose

The United States Pacific Command seeks to enhance interoperability between Pacific Rim armed forces, thereby promoting stability in the region to the benefit of all participating nations. The exercises are key to military readiness as Pacific Rim nations face the challenges of several "hot spots" of potential armed conflict.

Contemporary Pacific Rim challenges include:

• threats of terrorism by groups in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines
• threats by China to invade Taiwan in the event of the island's declaration of independence
• threats by North Korea against the United States, South Korea and Japan

Experiments

Japanese defense forces are docked at Pearl Harbor in RIMPAC 2002 ironically near ruins of the USS Arizona, destroyed by the Japanese navy in 1941. Japan is a regular participant. Left to right: JDS Kirishima, JDS Murasame, JDS Ikazuchi and JDS Hamagiri.

Participants conduct exercises in ship-sinking and torpedo usage. They also test new naval vessels and technology. For example in 2004, the United States Navy tested HSV-2 Swift, a 321-foot experimental wave-piercing catamaran that draws only 11 feet of water, has a top speed of almost 50 knots, can transport 605 tons of cargo and has the ability to get in close to shore.

External Links

• United States Pacific Command
• RIMPAC 2000 Photo Album