The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Satpura and one P8I maritime patrol aircraft from the Indian Navy have joined the world's largest international maritime exercise – Rim of the Pacific 2022 (RIMPAC) – which kicked off in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California, earlier this week.
Being held from June 29 to August 4, RIMPAC 2022 is a biennial international military exercise hosted by Commander, United States Pacific Fleet to counter the complex strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
This year, it is featuring a total of 27 nations, 38 surface ships, four submarines, land forces from nine nations, 30 unmanned systems, approximately 170 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel.
As revealed by the Ministry of Defence, INS Satpura – an indigenously designed and built 6000-tonne guided missile stealth frigate equipped to seek and destroy adversary in air, surface and underwater – had entered the Pearl Harbour in Hawaii Islands on June 27 to participate in the six-week exercise.
A frontline unit of Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam, INS Satpura is currently on an extended operational deployment in the 75th year of India's Independence.
Last month, while on a deployment to the South China Sea (SCS) and West Pacific, it had also visited Manila from June 3-6 to enhance military cooperation with the Philippines Navy.
Enhancing interoperability and building trust among the navies
RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971. It was held annually until 1974, when it became a biennial exercise due to its scale.
(Image courtesy: Twitter/ @DefenceAust)
The US Navy-led multilateral naval exercise is aimed at enhancing interoperability and to build trust among the navies of friendly foreign countries.
Besides India and the hosts United States, this year's exercise also includes forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga and the United Kingdom.
"By coming together as Capable, Adaptive Partners, and in the scale that we are, we are making a statement about our commitment to work together, to foster and sustain those relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of the sea lanes and the security of the world’s interconnected oceans," said RIMPAC 2022 Commander, Vice Admiral Michael Boyle.
"This is also how we find the areas where our national objectives overlap, where we can practice the procedures that will help to enable our interchangeability – the nexus of national will and interoperability," he added while welcoming the participants during a kick-off gathering of leaders from across the RIMPAC force.
According to the US 3rd Fleet, this year's exercise programme will include gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defence exercises, as well as amphibious, counter-piracy, mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, diving and salvage operations. Additionally, the exercise will also introduce space and cyber operations for all partner nations.
This year, US Navy's three unmanned surface vessels – Nomad, Sea Hunter and Ranger – which provide additional warfighting capability are also participating in the multi-dimensional exercise.
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