Exercise Pacific Eagle

Exercise Pacific Eagle
Name	Exercise Pacific Eagle
Type	Multinational maritime and air exercise

Exercise Pacific Eagle was a multinational maritime and air exercise conducted to enhance interoperability among allied and partner forces across the Indo-Pacific region. The exercise focused on combined operations, command-and-control integration, humanitarian assistance, and maritime security scenarios involving surface, subsurface, and air components. It brought together naval, air force, and coast guard elements to rehearse complex operations in contested littoral and open-ocean environments.

Background and Purpose

Exercise Pacific Eagle originated from an effort to improve combined readiness among regional navies and air arms following increased strategic competition and recurring South China Sea incidents. Participants cited precedents such as Rim of the Pacific Exercise, Malabar, and Cobra Gold as templates for interoperability and crisis-response training. The stated purposes included strengthening collective deterrence, refining Carrier Strike Group integration, rehearsing Maritime Interdiction Operations and search-and-rescue coordination, and practicing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief protocols after events like Typhoon Haiyan and Indian Ocean tsunami. Exercises of this scope also referenced doctrines published by United States Indo-Pacific Command and alliance guidance from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations frameworks.

Participants and Organizers

Planned participants typically included maritime forces from the United States Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Royal Australian Navy, Republic of Korea Navy, and the Indian Navy, alongside air components from United States Air Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Coast guard and naval aviation units from the Philippine Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy, and Royal Canadian Navy took part in specific evolutions. Multilateral coordination involved staff officers from Pacific Fleet (United States) headquarters, liaison officers from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and planners from regional institutions such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue partners. Non-governmental observers and representatives from International Maritime Organization-affiliated agencies participated in humanitarian and safety exchanges.

Timeline and Activities

The multiday exercise unfolded in phases mirroring historical patterns from exercises like RIMPAC 2018 and RIMPAC 2020—an initial harbor phase for planning and exchanges, a sea phase for combined maneuvers, and a final evaluation and debrief. Activities included integrated carrier-air wing strikes inspired by Operation Enduring Freedom tactics, combined anti-submarine warfare drills recalling techniques used during the Cold War, replenishment-at-sea operations similar to those practiced by the United States Seventh Fleet, and amphibious landings informed by Exercise Talisman Sabre doctrine. Additional events featured live-flight operations with F/A-18 Hornet and P-8 Poseidon platforms, boarding exercises based on Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure procedures, and humanitarian operations modeled after responses to 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Equipment and Assets Deployed

Surface combatants present resembled classes such as Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, Atago-class destroyer, Hobart-class destroyer, and Type 052D destroyer variants. Aircraft included multirole fighters and maritime patrol types like the F/A-18 Super Hornet, F-35 Lightning II, P-8 Poseidon, and E-2 Hawkeye early-warning aircraft. Subsurface units ranged from Los Angeles-class submarine and Sōryū-class submarine elements to diesel-electric attack submarines operated by regional navies. Amphibious and logistics support assets mirrored Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, Canberra-class amphibious assault ship, and replenishment oilers similar to Supply-class fast combat support ship. Unmanned systems included MQ-9 Reaper-type UAVs, unmanned surface vehicles demonstrated in trials, and various autonomous underwater vehicles used in mine-countermeasure scenarios.

Command and Control, Planning, and Logistics

A combined task force headquarters structure was employed, drawing staff practices from Combined Joint Task Force constructs and interoperability standards promulgated by NATO for command synergy. Planning cycles adopted the OODA loop-influenced tempo and used liaison exchange systems comparable to those used in Joint Pacific Multinational Coordination Center activities. Logistics coordination relied on pre-positioned supplies at regional bases such as Yokosuka Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, and Sasebo to enable underway replenishment and sustainment. Communications and information sharing used secure networks and common operating pictures developed with technologies akin to Link 16 and cooperative data-sharing arrangements exercised during RIMPAC and Malabar.

Outcomes and Assessments

After-action assessments emphasized improved tactical interoperability among participating fleets and air arms, citing enhanced anti-submarine warfare coordination, successful combined replenishment-at-sea evolutions, and refined procedures for multinational humanitarian assistance. Analysts compared results to benchmarks from prior events like Exercise Malabar 2015 and reported lessons on logistics throughput, sensor fusion, and rules-of-engagement deconfliction. Observers from regional forums including the ASEAN Regional Forum cataloged best practices for civil-military coordination. Critical assessments recommended expanded participation from smaller navies, increased realism in cyber-electromagnetic warfare simulations reflective of Cybersecurity trends, and prolonged amphibious rehearsals to better align with contingency plans influenced by scenarios in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait environs.

Category:Military exercises