30-nation Pacific drill winds down; Integrated forces beef up regional defense, RIMPAC chief says

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U.S. Navy corpsmen and U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, participate in a simulated tactical combat casualty care event as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026 at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, July 25, 2026.  Screenshot from U.S. Marine Corps video by Sgt. Cassidy Shepherd

By Jayvee Vallejera

Against the backdrop of China's missile earlier this month, the Rim of the Pacific exercise in Hawaii brought together 30 nations, more than 30,000 personnel, 31 surface ships, five submarines and over 190 aircraft for the largest maritime in the region.

As RIMPAC winds down, Vice Admiral Jeffrey T. Jablon noted how the integrated forces strengthened the Indo-Pacific region's "collective capability, which is essential to today’s security environment."

"RIMPAC participants work together to strengthen regional security, protect against coercion, and preserve sovereignty across the Pacific," said Jablon, deputy chief for Naval Operations and commander who commands this year's RIMPAC.

RIMPAC began June 24 and will conclude on July 31.

When asked about China’s recent test-launch of a ballistic missile, Jablon replied: “RIMPAC isn't about signaling to one country. It's really about readiness."

On July 6, China test-fired a long-range ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the South Pacific. The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the missile carried a dummy warhead.

It said a People's Liberation Army submarine launched the missile toward international waters as part of China’s annual military training. China reportedly gave advanced notice about the launch.

U.S., Republic of Korea and Peruvian marines conduct a live-fire range during Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026 at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, July 1, 2026.  Screenshot from U.S. Marine Corps video by Sgt. Max Arellano

Jablon, who was joined at Wednesday’s press briefing by Rear Adm. Takuo Kobayashi of Japan and Rear Adm. In-ho Kim of the Republic of Korea, said the Pacific is extremely vast and RIMPAC’s vast scale in terms of participants reflects a shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

“No single nation can ensure security in the Pacific alone. The global maritime environment is too large and too complex for any one country to safeguard by itself,” Jablon said. “When you see 30 nations improving their ability to operate together, respond to crisis and deter aggression, that’s significant.”

RIMPAC, which began in 1971, is conducted every two years. This year is the 30th edition of the world's largest international maritime exercise.

Besides the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), other countries that participated in this year’s RIMPAC include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga and the United Kingdom.

Jablon said this year’s RIMPAC theme, “Partners: Integrated and Prepared,” strengthens collective capability, which is essential to today's security environment.

As to why Guam was not included in this year’s RIMPAC, Jablon gave a short answer: “Guam is a part of the United States, and we had U.S. forces obviously as part of RIMPAC.”

As part of its culminating exercise, nine nations joined together and destroyed two ships—the USS Peleliu, a decommissioned amphibious assault ship and the USS Mobile Bay, a guided-missile cruiser.

Besides its military and security goals, RIMPAC 2026 also strengthened humanitarian assistance and disaster response, Jablon said.

The training brought together military forces, interagency partners, non-governmental organizations and international observers to rehearse disaster response tasks, including mass casualty care, medical triage, logistics coordination and rapid delivery of relief supplies.

“These events sharpen our ability to respond in a moment’s notice and reinforce the trust in the interoperability we rely on when communities across the Pacific and the world need help,” he said.

This part of the exercise was so successful that they will be expanding HADR training in 2028, Jablon said.

“When nations know each other, train together and communicate well, they can respond faster and more effectively, whether it's a security challenge, a humanitarian crisis or a natural disaster,” he added.

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