This image: A
fabulous shot
of a VAQ-136
‘Gauntlets’
EA-18G
Growler as it
is prepared
for a ‘RIMPAC’
mission.
Above left to
right: This
rather tatty-
looking ‘Golden
Dragons’
F/A-18E carries
the name of
CAG-2 boss
CAPT Greg
Newkirk.
A VAW-113
E-2C catches
the arrestor
wire. The
upper escape
hatch is open,
presumably
to minimize
impediment to
the rear crew in
the event of a
ditching.
This EA-18G is
flying through
with its hook
down, having
been ‘waved
off’ during final
approach.
R
IMPAC’ IS AN exercise that is
synonymous with US Paciic
Command — enhancing
interoperability amongst
armed forces located in the
Paciic Rim and beyond,
ostensibly as a means of promoting
stability in the region. It is described by
the US Navy as, ‘a unique training
opportunity that helps participants
foster and sustain the co-operative
relationships that are critical to ensuring
the safety of sea-lanes and security on
the world’s oceans.’
The exercise is held every other year
during the summer months and is
headquartered at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, with the 2018
edition being the 26th iteration of an
event that dates back to 1971.
This year, 25 nations, 46 ships, ive
submarines, and about 200 aircraft
participated. There were assets from the
US plus Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile,
Colombia, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the
Republic of Korea, the Republic of the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga,
and the United Kingdom, as well as
irst-time participants Israel, Sri Lanka,
and Vietnam.
‘Capable, adaptive partners’ was the
mantra, aimed at demonstrating the
inherent lexibility of maritime forces
from disaster relief and maritime security
operations, to sea control and complex
warfare. Australian and Indian P-8
Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft workedalongside Australian, Canadian, and
South Korean P-3 Orions, with the
centerpiece being the USS Carl Vinson
(CVN 70) and its embarked Carrier Air
Wing Two (CVW-2), the amphibious
assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard
(LHD 6) with a mix of rotary aircraft, and
multiple land-based aviation assets.
Although a maritime exercise, the
aviation elements played a huge role in
this ‘RIMPAC’, which is conducted over vast
swathes of ocean. CAPT Greg Newkirk, the
commander of CVW-2, told Combat
Aircraft, ‘The maritime battlespace is not
one where the arena is limited to the many
very capable warships you see at ‘RIMPAC’.
Rather, it is integration between platforms
that operate in all the mediums — on,
under and over the oceans. The impact of
aviation on ‘RIMPAC’ in a larger sense is to
reine that integration in a way, and on a
scale, that makes each nation participating
in this exercise a more capable maritime
force, which certainly includes learning
and progressing in the aviation realm.
CVW-2 has been a primary contributor to
the growth and eicacy of the combined
air operations center as we develop that
critical battlespace infrastructure and
corporate knowledge. CVW-2 worked with
ships of nearly every country in some
capacity — logistics, targeting, sensor
utilization, air intercept control, anti-
submarine warfare integration, and
command and control.’Last call for VFA-34
The Carl Vinson had returned to San Diego
in April following a three-month‘http://www.combataircraft.net // November 2018 71