Overview
- Senior U.S. and partner leaders said Wednesday that RIMPAC, which ran from June 24 to July 31, brought about 30 nations and roughly 30,000 personnel together and is drawing down after a month of operations around Hawaii.
- Participants reported the successful completion of more than 35 experiments testing unmanned systems and emerging tech, including shipboard 3D printing, drone delivery and an unmanned surface vessel autonomously entering the well deck of USS Essex for underway replenishment.
- Multinational live-fire events tested integrated kill chains and sank two decommissioned ships, with forces from nations including the United States, Japan, Australia and Spain coordinating strikes and helicopters firing Hellfire missiles during a SINKEX of ex‑USS Mobile Bay.
- The Republic of Korea commanded the Combined Force Maritime Component for the first time as a non‑U.S. Asian lead, a development U.S. Navy officials described as an operational leadership milestone that put partners in charge of combined missions.
- Organizers said the exercise strengthened practical readiness for humanitarian response and high‑end warfighting, expanded Pacific island participation such as Fiji, and set up follow‑on activities like the Pacific Dragon missile defense drills that will test the coalition’s new procedures and logistics concepts.