"The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held in August. It is hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Indo-Pacific Command, headquartered at Pearl Harbor, in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard forces under the control of the Governor of Hawaii.

"The first RIMPAC, held in 1971, involved forces from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Australia, Canada, and the US have participated in every RIMPAC since then. Other regular participants are Chile, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand. The Royal New Zealand Navy was frequently involved until the 1985 ANZUS nuclear ships dispute and was subsequently absent, until returning to take part in more recent RIMPACs since 2012," Wikipedia says..

"While not contributing any ships, observer nations are involved in RIMPAC at the strategic level and use the opportunity to prepare for possible full participation in the future. The United States contingent has included an aircraft carrier strike group, submarines, up to a hundred aircraft and 20,000 Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and their respective officers. The size of the exercises varies from year to year. In the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, both houses of the US have called for a Taiwanese participation of RIMPAC 2022 in the face of "increasingly coercive and aggressive behavior" by China."

"The world’s largest fleet command, the U.S. Pacific Fleet encompasses 100 million square miles, nearly half the Earth’s surface, from Antarctica to the Arctic circle and from the West Coast of the United States into the Indian Ocean. The U.S. Pacific Fleet consists of approximately 200 ships, 1,500 aircraft, and 150,000 military and civilian personnel," the official website says.

"Adm. Samuel J. Paparo is the current commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. He is the 37th commander since the fleet’s Pearl Harbor headquarters was established in February 1941. Past commanders of the Pacific Fleet include such naval giants as Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and Admiral Raymond Spruance.

"Under the current organization and command structure, the U.S. Pacific Fleet staff reports administratively to the Chief of Naval Operations and operationally to the U.S. Pacific Command, whose headquarters are at nearby Camp H.M. Smith. Commands that fall directly under the Pacific Fleet include “type” commands for surface ships, submarines and aircraft as well as Navy construction. Operational commands that report directly to the U.S. Pacific Fleet include Third Fleet in the Eastern Pacific and Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean."

"The world’s largest international maritime exercise concluded Aug. 4 following more than a month of realistic, relevant combined operations training conducted in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California," the U.S. Pacific Fleet says.

"Divers and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians from six partner nations completed training at Rim of the Pacific 2022 in Pearl Harbor, July 29.

"RIMPAC forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities, projecting the inherent flexibility of maritime forces and helping to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific."

"Three nations with competing claims to China’s – the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei – will take part in RIMPAC 2022. Indonesia, which borders the South China Sea and has seen recent maritime tensions with China, will also take part, as will Singapore, which sits at the southwestern entrance to the 1.3 million-square-mile sea," the CNN reports.

"The exercises will include drills focusing on “amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as counter-piracy operations, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations,” the US Navy said.

"RIMPAC 2022 also includes Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga and the United Kingdom."

"Among the 25,000 service members participating in the exercise was a small MQ-9 Reaper detachment comprised of active-duty, Air National Guard and Reserve Airmen from Reaper squadrons across the country. Although small in numbers, the MQ-9 enterprise left an indelible mark on the world’s largest maritime exercise by demonstrating the remotely piloted aircraft’s capabilities at RIMPAC for the first time," the Air Force says.

"RIMPAC introduced the MQ-9 to training events like a sinking exercise, also known as SINKEX. The scenario saw several nations target and sink a decommissioned ship to test weapons systems. According to West, while the scenario was unfolding at sea, the MQ-9 was in the air gathering data that will be used to build a database to inform training development.

"Other maritime events included an amphibious assault scenario as well as war-at-sea and surface exercises, which capitalized on the MQ-9s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to aid ships in finding and targeting opposing forces. The aircraft was also used as a catalyst for a simulated wartime scenario, something fellow participants had never exercised before."

Photos: World's largest international maritime exercise, world record in Honolulu, Hawaii

(1) The USS Abraham Lincoln pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, June 28, 2022, during Rim of the Pacific, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Javier Reyes/ U.S. Department of Defense

(2) U.S. Army and South Korean special operations service members conduct helocast operations during Rim of the Pacific, the world's largest international maritime exercise, in Hawaii, July 20, 2022. Photo By: Cpl. Djalma Vuong-De Ramos 

(3) Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Princes Rosit directs an F-35C Lightning II on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during Rim of the Pacific 2022 in the Pacific Ocean, July 14, 2022. Twenty-six nations, 38 ships, four submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in Rimpac, the world's largest maritime exercise. Photo By:Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Javier Reyes

(4) Sailors prepare to connect a fuel hose during a replenishment aboard the USS Essex during Rim of the Pacific, the world's largest international martime exercise, in the Pacific Ocean, July 15, 2022. Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 3rd Christina Himes 

(5) U.S., Mexican, Australian and Canadian naval divers conduct a training dive during Rim of the Pacific, world’s largest international maritime exercise, in the Pacific Ocean, July 27, 2022. Photo By: Navy Chief Petty Officer Eric Chan

(6) The guided-missile destroyer USS Chaffe launches an SM-2 Block IV missile during a joint surface-to-air missile exercise with the Royal Canadian navy off the coast of Hawaii as part of the Rim of the Pacific exercise, July 19, 2022. Twenty-six nations and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC, the world's largest international maritime exercise. Photo By:Canadian forces photo

(7) Marine Corps Cpl. Jonathan Wise, a radio operator, sets up multiple communication lines at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, July 15, 2022, during Rim of the Pacific 2022. RIMPAC is the world's largest international maritime exercise, with 26 nations, 38 ships, four submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel participating in the 2022 iteration. Photo By: Marine Corps Sgt. Melanye Martinez

(8) Facebook/RIMPAC