Dzirhan Mahadzir – June 8, 2026 4:31 PM – Updated: June 9, 2026 7:26 AM
Aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) will lead the U.S. participation in this year’s Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026 exercise, the service announced.
Held from June 24 to July 31 in and around the Hawaiian Islands, RIMPAC will include a total of 32 surface ships, five submarines with 31 nations participating in the drills.
Theodore Roosevelt will lead a U.S. contingent comprising of cruiser USS Chosin (CG-65), destroyers USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60), USS Decatur (DDG-73), USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) and USS Carl M. Levin (DDG-120), amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2), submarines USS Charlotte (SSN-766) and USS Columbia (SSN-771), fleet oilers USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO-199) and USNS Guadalupe (T-AO-200), dry cargo ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE-11) and U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Kimball (WMSL-756). In 2024, aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) led a cruiser, six destroyers, an amphibious transport dock, an amphibious landing ship, two submarines, two fleet oilers, a dry cargo ship, a salvage ship and a coast guard cutter for the drills.
Brunei, Germany, India, Indonesia and Malaysia dispatched a combined total of seven ships to RIMPAC 2024 but this year though these countries will not be sending any ships though they will still participate in RIMPAC with ground and staff contingents.
The decision to send ships for RIMPAC hinges upon a navy’s availability of operational ships that can be spared. In 2024, during a media engagement in Singapore, the head of the German Navy, Vice Adm. Jan Christian Kaack told USNI News that with a fleet size of around 50 ships, the German Navy has to prioritize its deployments and future deployments to the Indo-Pacific would depend on ship availability. Germany in 2024 sent frigate FGS Baden-Württemberg (F222) and fleet oiler FGS Frankfurt am Main (A1412) to RIMPAC 2024 and the two ships subsequently carried out an Indo-Pacfic deployment as part of their return to Germany.
Spain is sending frigate ESPS Alvaro de Bazan (F101) and Philippines is sending frigate BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) and Philippine Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301). Alvaro De Bazan left Spain on May 12 and is heading to Hawaii via the Atlantic and Panama Canal route with various port visits to South American countries along its route. The frigate will also take part in Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) exercise Pacific Dragon 2026 which take place in Hawaii after RIMPAC.
Miguel Malvar and Gabriela Silang on Saturday linked up with Republic of Singapore Navy frigate RSS Steadfast (70) and Italian Navy multi-role combat ship ITS Giovanni delle Bande Nere (P434) to carry out a group sail to Guam as part of RIMPAC 2026. The four ships will join other RIMPAC participants in Guam for a group sail to Hawaii. Giovanni Delle Bande Nere is on an Indo-Pacific deployment, having left Italy on May 3. The ship will also participate in Pacific Dragon.
The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) contingent is making its way to RIMPAC from Korea and Canada. Destroyer ROKS ROKS Jeongjo the Great (DDG-995) departed Jeju Naval Base on June 1. Amphibious landing ship ROKS Cheon Ja Bong (LST-687) on Monday conducted a joint search and rescue exercise on Monday with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer JS Kongo (DDG-173) and is now making its way to RIMPAC. Off Canada’s west coast, from Wednesday to Thursday, frigate ROKS Daejeon (FFG-823) and submarine ROKS Dosan Ahn Chang-ho (SS-083) carried out combined training, which included anti-surface firing, anti-submarine warfare, and helicopter deck landing operations with Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ottawa (FFH341) and submarine HMCS Corner Brook (SSK878). Daejeon and Dosan Ahn Chang-ho are now making their way to Hawaii.
Ottawa and Corner Brook, along with frigate HMCS Regina (FFH334) and fleet oiler MV Asterix will take part in RIMPAC 2026 though it is not clear whether Ottawa, Regina and Corner Brook, both based at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt will sail together with Daejeon and Dosan Ahn Chang-ho to Hawaii, the ROKN frigate and submarine had previously been at CFB Esquimalt prior to the exercise. MV Asterix has been operating in the Indo-Pacific and is likely sailing to Hawaii separately.
Kongo is also participating in RIMPAC and by itself forms the 3rd Surface Unit of the JMSDF’s Indo-Pacific Deployment 2026 (IPD26). IPD is the JMSDF’s annual regional and presence deployment in the Indo-Pacific. Kongo is the sole JMSDF ship participating in RIMPAC and expected to also participate in Pacific Dragon as well.
Making its way to RIMPAC as well is Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS De Ruyter (F804), which was reported by the Chinese military on Friday to have transited the Taiwan Strait, “Since May 27, the ship-borne helicopter of the Dutch frigate HNLMS De Ruyter illegally intruded into the airspace over China’s Xisha Qundao, and then the frigate transited the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command dispatched naval and air assets to track and monitor the Dutch frigate throughout its passage, and handled the situation effectively. Forces of the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command will stay on high alert at all times and resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability.”, read the statement on the PLA’s official social media channel China Military Bugle. De Ruyter’s next ports of call will be Incheon, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan before it sails to Hawaii for RIMPAC.
Dzirhan Mahadzir
Dzirhan Mahadzir is a freelance defense journalist and analyst based in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Among the publications he has written for and currently writes for since 1998 includes Defence Review Asia, Jane’s Defence Weekly, Navy International, International Defence Review, Asian Defence Journal, Defence Helicopter, Asian Military Review and the Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter.