Overview
- RIMPAC 2026 is running from June 24 to July 31 and has placed maritime patrol aircraft under a U.S.-led Commander, Task Force 172 to fly coordinated missions across the Hawaiian training areas.
- For the first time in the exercise, multinational personnel are flying aboard U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidons to validate cross‑nation integration of crews, procedures and onboard systems.
- Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidons from 92 Wing are operating in ASW, ASuW and ISR serials alongside U.S., Japanese, Canadian, South Korean and Indian patrol aircraft to exercise shared tracking and mission handoffs.
- Military Sealift Command and allied replenishment ships are conducting multiple replenishments-at-sea daily to keep ships and aircraft on station and sustain continuous, high-tempo operations.
- Organizers say the combined steps — crew exchanges, unified task‑force command and sustained logistics — aim to make allied maritime patrols able to hold continuous contact on targets and speed transfer of responsibility between nations.