Name: Inside the Pacific War Games Watched by America’s Adversaries
Uploaded: 2026-08-05T16:00:00Z
Duration: 10 min 22 s
Description: The world’s largest naval drill returns to Hawaii as tensions reshape the security of the Pacific. WSJ’s Tim Martin embeds with U.S. and allied forces training for a future conflict.

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The world’s largest naval drill returns to Hawaii as tensions reshape the security of the Pacific. WSJ’s Tim Martin embeds with U.S. and allied forces training for a future conflict. Photo: Daniel Vergara

https://m.wsj.net/video/20260805/12fb4de7-2e75-4c19-bf7f-47a4467384a4/3/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

The world’s largest naval drill returns to Hawaii as tensions reshape the security of the Pacific. WSJ’s Tim Martin embeds with U.S. and allied forces training for a future conflict.

Inside the Pacific War Games Watched by America’s Adversaries

I've been given rare access to the Rim of the Pacific exercise. There's no maritime drill of this size in the world.

If you take a look at the Pacific Ocean, it's huge. It's immense, and no one country can ensure the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region.

China's growing assertiveness and North Korea's rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal have heightened tensions across the Pacific. Any future conflict would stretch across thousands of miles of ocean.

We have that extra arm, right? I can go that extra 800,000 miles to reach out where maybe a ship can't. I've got that ability to get high, get fast, use my sensors to understand what's happening around us, and just increases the overall situational awareness of the force as a whole.

I can't talk to the perception of China or North Korea on what that deterrent effect would be based on RIMPAC but I'm sure there's some deterrent effect when they see 30 like-minded nations working together in this environment.

We are pulling out of Pearl Harbor, and I'm standing on the flight deck of Theodore Roosevelt, which sailors call The Big Stick. And this ship has a big role to play, both in RIMPAC exercises and any potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific. Rim of the Pacific Exercise, or RIMPAC, comes as Beijing rapidly expands its military capabilities, while tensions simmer from the South China Sea to the Korean Peninsula.

The Theodore Roosevelt is the lead ship here with this massive maritime exercise. We have 68 aircraft onboard, and there's an opportunity to take this ship and the carrier strike group and all the other vessels alongside to go anywhere. And that's probably our greatest strength as a Navy is, you know, 70% of the world is covered in water. And so there's not many places we can't go. And we have the ability to project power, presence, and to ensure that we secure an open and free Pacific to benefit all of our partners economically and ensure that the Navy continues to safeguard freedom of seas like we have for 250 years.

A carrier Strike Group is a military formation centered around an aircraft carrier, capable of launching strikes anywhere. What type of aircraft are we talking here?

Sure. We've got 34 F-18 Superhornets, seven EA-18 electronic attack Growlers, a total of nine helicopters onboard as well. We'll have Ospreys who will do the carrier onboard delivery. We have five E2D Hawkeyes who are your airborne command and control units. We've got 10 F-35s.

The most prized air asset is the state-of-the-art F-35C, which is flown by pilots like Brandon Hooper, call sign, Sastronaut.

So the biggest thing for us is just getting out there with all these partners, getting to integrate with them in the air, doing some specific missions, such as defensive counter-air and offensive counter-air. Just really getting that air-to-ship and ship-to-ship communication so that we can communicate once we do go over and start our deployment here at the end of the year. Hey, what's going on with 600? Heads up, we're on the yellow, pulling and spinning the tanker. Heads up.

How does that enhance US and allies' ability if there was to be some type of major conflict in the region?

Yeah, so obviously RIMPAC is every two years. So far, even this year, we've been to Alaska and worked with our Korean and Japanese partners, and it's just every time we're able to do that where we understand each other's languages, we help fill in the gaps in tactics and strategies and weaknesses and strengths. It just shows how a united front is able to be positioned and ready in the Indo-Pacific, regardless of what happens. We have that extra arm, right? I can go that extra 800,000 miles to reach out where maybe a ship can't. I've got that ability to get high, get fast, use my sensors to understand what's happening around us, and just increases the overall situational awareness of the force as a whole. I think at the end of the day, you know, we're all out here doing the same thing, which is to unite the Pacific and encourage that freedom of maneuver around the world. You know, it's not about war, it's about suppressing that aggression, ensuring that we're posed and ready in case that does happen.

So traditionally, China has always been preoccupied in securing its first island chain, which is the chain of islands that run from Japan down to the Philippines, and then up to the southern extremes of the South China Sea. But in the recent years, we can see a lot of evidence of China going beyond this first island chain to places like the Western Pacific near Guam. China understands that if it can operate beyond the second island chain, it is able to deny the United States a successful military campaign against China. And North Korea has also been building war ships that are able to deploy a nuclear capable missile systems. These are known as the Choe Hyon class destroyers that can strike large parts of Northeast Asia.

For the US and its allies, deterrence depends on proving they can operate as a single force.

This is the 30th iteration of RIMPAC that originally started with five nations. It's now expanded to the largest joint, combined maritime exercise in the world with 30 nations, 31 surface ships, five submarines, over 190 aircraft, and over 30,000 personnel that are participating in RIMPAC this year. But what you'll see in RIMPAC is our partner nations, our allies taking those leadership positions. So, the US is not in all the leadership positions. It's shared among all our allies and partners, and that's what I think makes us stronger to ensure that we do have the interoperability, we do have those relationships built, and we're able to achieve success.

I think it goes back to the motto of RIMPAC. This is about partners. You understand and are aware of the geopolitical turmoil. We need partnerships so that we can meet those challenges. There is no one single nation that can do this alone. My staff is a perfect example of interoperability. My deputy is a German. My chief of staff is from New Zealand. My operations officer is from Denmark. I have Germans on the staff and I have Singaporeans on my staff. So we are truly a multinational headquarters.

The purpose of RIMPAC goes beyond training forces and strengthening ties with allies. It is an opportunity to test new capabilities and learn the lessons of modern warfare, adapting to rapidly evolving threats seen in conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East. Are there lessons from the Middle East or Ukraine that, since the last exercises occurred two years ago, that have been incorporated into this year's RIMPAC?

You know, as technology has evolved, we have more challenges from a technological aspect, especially for unmanned. Our emphasis, especially from the Chief of Naval operations on Unmanned Systems and the Department of War on Unmanned Systems, we're making inroads in that area. So as technology evolves, incorporation of artificial intelligence, those are challenges that we're overcoming. So we have approximately 35 experiments in RIMPAC incorporated deal with the technology that is evolving. For example, to incorporate advanced manufacturing, we are advanced manufacturing parts onshore in Oahu. Then we're putting them on an unmanned surface vessel, and that unmanned surface vessel is taking it out to the platforms.

Consul general, New Zealand, arriving.

Comfort in the Pacific isn't only fought at sea. It also depends on being able to move forces quickly between ships and land.

What we're simulating right now is amphibious raid. An amphibious raid implies that you bring ground forces in from a sovereign vessel that's out there. It's a floating base that we have, and it keeps us flexible in that we're not fixed in a land location. We can respond to different scenarios as needed, and then extract before the enemy has a chance to respond. So adding a vertical component to that makes it more complex for the enemy to navigate.

So, I'm at a US military training facility right now. I'm with some South Korean soldiers who've just arrived on four different Ospreys, and they're carrying out a mock town raid with some US Marines. So these drills also include dealing with the civilian population. And what this is meant to simulate is all types of things. Language barriers, how to keep your cool under pressure, around the corner for the final objective. And it's a little awkward because all the signs are in Korean. This is the South Korean Marines, but you can sort of see your answer right through this door. You have Kim Jong-Il. And the goal here is it might be an unfamiliar setting for them now, but at least they have some practice if they ever have to actually do fight with the US, and perhaps even other allies in a situation like this.

I think China and North Korea will view RIMPAC as provocative because the kind of military exercises that are being carried out seem to imply the ability to carry out a unified force against an adversary like China. So, while RIMPAC was being carried out in parallel, China and Russia were also carrying out joint bilateral drills between their navies and air force. And some of these exercises involve patrols around the Japanese archipelago. It was almost a message to the world that while you were involved in a multilateral exercise with our adversaries, you know, we are also building up and honing our capabilities with our partners.

But RIMPAC hopes to send a different message.

It's a truly integrated exercise and we're partners, we're prepared together. It's also a showcase to the outside world that, "Hey, look at us. We're prepared. We're ready to go alongside each other, shoulder to shoulder.

I can't talk to the perception of China or North Korea on what that deterrent effect would be based on RIMPAC, but I'm sure there's some deterrent effect when they see 30 like-minded nations working together in this environment.

Inside the Pacific Wargames Watched by America’s Adversaries

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