The US Navy has concluded the 28th iteration of biennial maritime exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022.

The exercise was held between 29 June and 4 August in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.

This year, RIMPAC witnessed the participation of around 25,000 personnel, 170 aircraft, three submarines, over 30 uncrewed systems, 38 surface ships and nine national land forces from across 26 countries.

RIMPAC 2022 Combined Task Force (CTF) Commander and US Navy vice-admiral Michael Boyle said: “By coming together as capable, adaptive partners, and in scale that we are, we are making a statement about our commitment to work together, to foster and sustain those relationships that are critical to ensuring safety of sea lanes and security of world’s interconnected oceans.”

During the month-long exercise, the participants performed a wide variety of maritime training drills, including disaster relief, security operations, sea control and complex warfighting.

In a first, the Royal New Zealand Navy’s fleet tanker HMNZS Aotearoa participated in the exercise to conduct replenishment of the multinational ships at the sea.

The exercise also involved the first-ever embedded use of the MQ-9A and MQ-9B uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) along with uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), namely Nomad, Ranger, Sea Hawk and Sea Hunter.

Furthermore, the Royal Malaysian Navy’s vessel KD Leskir (F26) conducted the first ever live missile firing outside the domestic waters.

RIMPAC 2022 Deputy Commander and Royal Canadian Navy rear admiral Christopher Robinson said: “This exercise provides tremendous training value, enabling partners to build skills and refine procedures through working together.

“Part of this comes from seeing how other partners approach similar scenarios, offering new perspectives.”

Source: https://www.naval-technology.com/news/us-navy-concludes-rimpac-2022/