Ex-USS Dubuque and ex-USS Tarawa were sunk in a demonstration of the capabilities the US and its allies have to sink enemy surface vessels.
Australian Defence Force photo by Royal Australian Navy Imagery Specialist Leading Seaman Daniel Goodman
The US and its allies used two decommissioned US Navy warships as target practice last month, sinking the ships out in the Pacific in a demonstration of their ability to eliminate adversary surface vessels.
Ex-USS Tarawa, a first-in-class amphibious assault ship, and ex-USS Dubuque, an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, acted as simulated enemy warships during the sinking exercises, or "SINKEXs" for short.
The live-fire training was part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the world's largest multinational naval warfare exercise held biennially in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
More than 25,000 military personnel from 29 nations participated in RIMPAC this year, which ran from late June to early August. Three submarines, 40 surface ships, 14 national land forces, and more than 150 aircraft were deployed to test and refine naval tactics and skills in a simulated combat environment.
Armed forces from the US, Australia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and South Korea took part in the SINKEXs last month, pummeling the decommissioned warships with an array of weaponry launched from land, air, and sea.
Australian Defence Force photo by Royal Australian Navy Imagery Specialist Leading Seaman Daniel Goodman
During the SINKEX on July 18, the Australian guided-missile destroyer HMAS Sydney successfully fired the Royal Australian Navy's new Naval Strike Missile (NSM) for the first time.
The NSM is a long-range precision strike weapon designed to engage both heavily defended surface ships and land targets. The highly maneuverable anti-ship missile can fly close to the water's surface and has a range of more than 120 miles. The missile uses inertial, GPS, and terrain-based navigation, as well as an onboard imaging infrared system, to accurately home in on a target without interference from spoofing and radio frequency jamming.
In January 2023, the Australian Defense Force awarded a massive contract worth over 1 billion AUD to Norwegian defense supplier Kongsberg to acquire the new anti-ship missile to replace the aging Harpoon missile systems in use aboard the country's Anzac-class frigates and Hobart-class destroyers.
Cmdr. David Maddison, commanding officer of HMAS Sydney, called the installation of the NSM aboard Australian warships "significant as it increases the lethality of Australia's surface combatant fleet."
"Being the first Royal Australian Navy ship to fire the Naval Strike Missile is an incredible privilege," Maddison said, "but more importantly, I'm incredibly proud of the efforts of the 200 young men and women who worked tirelessly this year to introduce this capability into service.
Video footage from the recent exercise showed the NSM being fired from a launching unit aboard the Australian warship against the decommissioned Tarawa.
Royal Netherlands Navy photo by Cristian Schrik
Along with HMAS Sydney, the Royal Netherlands Navy guided-missile frigate HNLMS Tromp fired an RGM-84 Harpoon missile during the July 18 live-fire exercise.
The Harpoon missile is a radar-guided, anti-ship missile that can be configured to launch from surface vessels and submarines, various aircraft, and coastal shore batteries.
When installed aboard a warship, the Harpoon is propelled by a rocket booster and capable of low-level sea-skimming and pop-up maneuvers to bolster its survivability.
Though the De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate was armed with Harpoon missiles for the exercise, it could soon be equipped with new anti-ship munitions after the Netherlands also purchased Kongsberg's NSMs, which are set to be delivered in 2025.
Video taken aboard the Dutch frigate captured the moment the Harpoon missile took flight with a loud boom and plume of smoke.
US Army photo by Sgt. Perla Alfaro
During the live-fire exercise on July 11, two US Army AH-64 Apache helicopters fired AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rockets
The Hellfire missile is an air-to-ground, subsonic missile that can be guided to its target either by a human operator or by lasers outside the aircraft. Primarily used in an anti-tank capacity, the well-known missile is capable of defeating any known tank in the world, according to the US military. Variants of the missile can also be used against other targets, including fortified structures and bunkers, light vehicles, and small boats and surface vessels.
The Apache helicopters also launched Hydra 70 rockets during the July target practice. Manufactured by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, the unguided rocket system was initially developed as an air-to-air weapon and was later modified with air-to-ground capabilities.
The multimission rocket system can be equipped with different types of warheads to fit the mission at hand. The weapon can be fired from most rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, such as the Apache, A-10 Thunderbolt II, and F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The Hydra 70 lacks precision in comparison to the Hellfire missile but is less expensive, making it one of the most commonly used helicopter-launched weapon systems due to its cost efficiency.
Video taken during the July 11 SINKEX showed the Apache helicopters launching the missiles and rockets at the Dubuque off in the distance, with a plume of smoke arising from the decommissioned warship following a direct hit.
Japanese Ground Self Defense Force Courtesy Photo
The exercise wasn't all air and sea power though. Troops from the US Army and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force took part in the sinking exercise on land.
US Army soldiers launched munitions from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) at Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, a US naval facility located in Kekaha on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
Developed by Lockheed Martin, the M142 HIMARS combines the firepower of a multiple rocket launcher with the mobility of a six-wheeled chassis. The truck-mounted rocket system can hold up to six guided rockets, two short-range ballistic missiles, or one tactical ballistic missile.
US Army photo by Sgt. Perla Alfaro
Alongside the US Army, Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) soldiers also deployed missiles from land, launching their own version of a truck-mounted anti-ship munition called the Type 12 surface-to-ship missile (SSM).
Developed by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the Type 12 SSM features improvements from its predecessor, the Type 88 SSM, with shorter reload times and reduced lifecycle costs. With a range of over 100 nautical miles, the newer Type 12 SSM is equipped with an inertial navigation system with mid-course GPS guidance and terrain mapping to direct the missile to its target.
Col. Michael Rose, the commander of the US Army's 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force, said the US and Japanese Army have "complementary capabilities" that were highlighted in the joint sinking exercise.
Rose said the interoperability between US forces and allied nations like Japan gives them an "asymmetric advantage" over adversaries. Such interoperability becomes paramount, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region amid rising tensions with China.
China previously participated in RIMPAC, but it has not been invited back for years now.
"There was this outreach to China, and definitely the US and its allies and partners were essentially burned by the Chinese taking advantage of it … as an opportunity to essentially collect intelligence and to try and get more acceptance of what should be considered unacceptable behavior," Markus Garlauskas, who is the director of the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, told Voice of America.
Now, the RIMPAC exercise is, in many ways, seen as a deterrence message to China.
Garlauskas said that the widely-attended naval warfare exercise, which even included non-Pacific nations like the UK, Brazil, and Israel, might cause China to reconsider a potential invasion of Taiwan, a region it views as a breakaway province that should be under Beijing's control.
He said that "they're not just going to be facing the United States in the country they're targeting, but they're potentially going to have to deal with a response from a wide range of countries that have common interests in deterring and confronting Chinese aggression as threats to a free and open Indo-Pacific."
