North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
July 23, 2014
NATO participates in largest international maritime exercise: RIMPAC 2014
The biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the world’s largest international maritime exercise, is ongoing in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
Twenty-three nations, including NATO ally and partner nations, 49 surface ships, 6 submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in the month-long U.S.-led exercise.
Among units from Australia, Brunei, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the People’s Republic of China, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Tonga, six NATO countries are participating with ships and aircraft from the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Canada and the United States.
RIMPAC 2014 is the 24th such exercise since 1971 and for the first time includes Brunei and China.
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“Throughout RIMPAC, we are building military relationships with some countries for the first time, and I can tell you that on a military-to-military level, we see eye-to-eye,” said Rear Adm. Gilles Couturier, Royal Canadian Navy Combined Forces Maritime Component Commander. “We know the value of working together to ensure the safety of the high seas. With 90 percent of commerce travelling over the oceans, regional military forces need to understand each other and work together to ensure that we can operate safely. The best way to do that is to practice now. In some ways, the military forces represent an insurance policy for governments, ready to respond to any government tasking. An exercise like RIMPAC is essential to maintain that readiness on the international front.”
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Story by SHAPE Public Affairs Office
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