Page 74 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2022

74 SEAPOWER RIMPAC
MAY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
ENHANCING REGIONAL MARITIME INTEROPERABILITY
MIKE YEO | MELBOURNE
The Rim of the Pacific Exercise or RIMPAC is the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise. The exercise is a biennial event, typically held during the northern summer in even- numbered years centred on Hawaii and taking place in the surrounding waters of the Pacific.
THE exercise is hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) headquartered at Pearl Harbor, in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard forces under the control of the Governor of Hawaii.
In addition, the US invites military forces from the Pacif- ic Rim and beyond to participate. USINDOPACOM seeks to use RIMPAC to enhance interoperability among the militaries around the Pacific Rim as a means of promoting stability in the region to the benefit of all participating na- tions. The US Navy has described it as a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.
RIMPAC DESCRIBED
RIMPAC is a complex, wide-ranging exercise that en- compasses several domains in a joint setting undertak- ing missions that range from high-end naval combat to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
It is best known for its naval at-sea phase however, with the PhotoEx that will include all the participating major surface vessels sailing in formation, being the visual high- light of the exercise.
A typical RIMPAC can be broken down into three main phases: with Phase 1 being an in-port table-top exercise; Phase 2 for force integration at sea; and Phase 3 compris- ing a series of scenario-driven ‘free’ exercises.
The more serious stuff of the at-sea phases includes
A USMC Amphibious Assault Vehicle hits the beach at Kaneohe Bay after disembarking HMAS Adelaide during the final amphibious assault for Exercise RIMPAC 2018
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