RIMPAC 2026 opens with 31 nations and 25,000 personnel as Pacific security competition intensifies
The 30th Rim of the Pacific exercise began June 24 in Hawaii, the largest maritime drill ever, foregrounding allied integration against China's Pacific military build-up
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Summary
RIMPAC 2026, the 30th iteration of the world's largest international maritime exercise, opened June 24 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Thirty-one nations are fielding 40 surface ships, 5 submarines, 140 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel through July 31. The exercise runs amphibious operations, anti-submarine warfare, counter-piracy and humanitarian assistance drills. Australia joins under the AUKUS framework ahead of Virginia-class submarine transfers; the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait tensions provide the exercise's unstated strategic backdrop, with the Philippines and Japan among participants boosting their contingents from prior years.
Why it matters
RIMPAC 2026 codifies the US-centred security architecture the Biden and Trump administrations have both deepened. Participation breadth (31 nations) signals that the China containment coalition remains intact; the Philippine and Australian force levels signal that Washington's Pacific treaty allies are operationalising their commitments, not merely attending.
What to watch
- Whether China conducts concurrent exercises to signal displeasure, as it has in past years.
- Integration outcomes for AUKUS-tier capabilities (submarine communications, autonomous systems).
- Whether Taiwan participates under any form (it has been excluded from RIMPAC officially but has sent observers).