U.S. Pacific Fleet announces 30th RIMPAC Exercise

18 April 2026

From Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO — The biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise will bring 31 nations in and around the Hawaiian Islands from June 24 to July 31, 2026. The exercise will feature a multinational force of approximately 40 surface ships, 5 submarines, 140 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel.

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Members of partner and ally nations pose for a group photo during the Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026 Final-Planning Conference at Naval Base Point Loma Annex in San Diego, April 14, 2026. RIMPAC is the world's largest international maritime exercise, providing a unique training opportunity that fosters and sustains cooperative relationships among participants. These relationships are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2026 marks the 30th iteration of the biennial exercise, which began in 1971. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brandon Roberson)

It is fitting that the world's premier maritime exercise occurs as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary. For 250 years, the United States has built relationships with international partners based on trust, cooperation, and shared values. RIMPAC is where we put that trust into practice, strengthening the people-to-people relationships that are the bedrock of our collective security.

The theme of RIMPAC 2026 is “Partners: Integrated and Prepared.” With teamwork at its core, RIMPAC fosters multi-national cooperation and trust, leverages interoperability, and achieves respective national objectives to strengthen integrated and prepared partners.

Hosted by the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, RIMPAC 2026 will be led by the Commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet (C3F), who will serve as the Combined Task Force (CTF) commander. Chile will fill the role of deputy commander of the CTF, and Japan will fill the role of vice commander. The Republic of Korea will command the maritime component, and Canada will command the air component.

RIMPAC 2026 will build on the success of RIMPAC 2024 with a larger contingent of partners demonstrating the inherent flexibility of maritime forces. The exercise will cover a wide range of capabilities including amphibious operations, gunnery and missile proficiency, anti-submarine warfare, air defense exercises, military medicine, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, counter-piracy, mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations. Throughout the exercise, partners train and operate together to strengthen our collective forces and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Details of RIMPAC activities and imagery are available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil/rimpac.

Media interested in covering the exercise should fill out the following form: https://forms.osi.apps.mil/r/HwfYQGpQsd

Contact information for the RIMPAC Combined Joint Information Bureau will be made available prior to the beginning of the exercise.