RIMPAC Exercise 2026: Indian Navy’s P-8I aircraft arrived to participate in the world’s largest naval exercise, know why it is very special

Washington. Indian Navy’s state-of-the-art P-8I maritime patrol aircraft has reached Hawaii to participate in the world’s largest naval exercise ‘Rim of the Pacific Exercise’ (RIMPAC) organized by the US Pacific Fleet. The Indian Embassy in the US has shared information about this partnership on the social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter). “The participation of the Indian Navy reiterates its commitment towards a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. It also strengthens interoperability, maritime domain awareness and cooperation with partner navies,” the embassy said in its post.

Main points and participation

This year’s RIMPAC exercise is historic and huge in many ways, with the opening ceremony and press conference on 24 June marking the beginning of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. This is the 30th edition of RIMPAC, themed ‘Partners: Integrated and Prepared’. This global naval exercise started in the year 1971. The exercise is being conducted in and around the Hawaiian Islands from June 24 to July 31 this year.

Which countries participate?

Let us tell you that Australia, Canada and America have been participating in RIMPAC in this exercise. Apart from these, there are Chile, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

Who runs RIMPACK?

Hosted by the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, RIMPAC 2026 will be led by the Commander, U.S. Third Fleet (C3F), who will serve as the Commander of the Combined Task Force (CTF). Chile will take on the role of Deputy Commander of the CTF, and Japan will take on the role of Deputy Commander.

When did it first start?

Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises began in 1971 and involve the U.S. military, along with at least 26 other nations, conducting exercises in Hawaii and San Diego.

Understand the scale of practice in data

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