Indian Navy contingent with P8I aircraft. (Photo: Indian Navy PRO)
New Delhi: The Indian Navy has deployed a P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine-warfare aircraft to Hawaii to take part in the Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) 2026 exercise, the world’s largest multinational maritime exercise.
Rimpac 2026 began on June 24, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and is scheduled to run until July 31. It is the 30th edition of the biennial exercise, which is organized by the US Pacific Fleet, and involves about 30 surface ships, five submarines, more than 206 aircraft and around 30,000 personnel from 30 countries, according to the US Navy.
This year’s theme is “Partners: Integrated and Prepared.” The programme covers amphibious landings, gunnery and missile exercises, anti-submarine warfare, air defence, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, counter-piracy, mine clearance, and diving and salvage operations.
The Indian Navy’s P-8I, built by Boeing, is fitted with long-range sensors and anti-submarine warfare systems and is normally used for surveillance of the Indian Ocean region. At Rimpac, the aircraft is expected to take part in maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare drills and coordinated missions with partner navies.
India first took part in Rimpac in 2014 and has featured in every edition since. Its continued involvement forms part of a wider pattern of defence engagement with countries across the Indo-Pacific region, alongside other exercises such as Malabar, Varuna and Talisman Sabre, in which India has taken part in recent years.
The exercise’s command structure this year reflects its multinational make-up: a Chilean commodore is deputy commander, a Japanese rear admiral is vice-commander, a South Korean rear admiral commands the maritime component, and a Canadian brigadier general leads the air component, under the overall command of Vice Admiral Jeff Jablon of the US Navy.
New entrants to Rimpac this year include Poland, Spain, Guatemala, Greece and Fiji, joining regular participants such as Australia, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. Germany and France did not send vessels or contingents for this year’s exercise, a change from previous editions.
Among the exercise’s more notable elements this year is a sinking exercise, or Sinkex, in which the decommissioned cruiser ex-USS Mobile Bay and the amphibious assault ship ex-USS Peleliu will serve as targets for live-fire drills involving missiles, torpedoes and bombs from multiple countries.
Organizers also plan to demonstrate an autonomous surface vessel fitted with a missile launcher, developed by Saildrone and Lockheed Martin, along with a separate trial of autonomous resupply of allied warships.
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