Singapore navy in Exercise Rimpac

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has again taken leadership roles in Exercise Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac), the world's largest international maritime exercise hosted by the United States Navy.

It is the sixth Exercise Rimpac that the RSN has participated in over the last 10 years, said the Ministry of Defence yesterday.

The biennial exercise is taking place in the waters off Hawaii from June 28 to Aug 3. This year's edition involves 45 ships, five submarines, about 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel, from 25 countries.

Among them is the RSN's Formidable-class frigate, RSS Tenacious, with an embarked Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk naval helicopter.

The Singapore navy has taken on the role of commander of a task unit in the expeditionary strike group, which will conduct training and scenario-based missions across the surface, air and sub-surface dimensions of naval warfare.

The task unit comprises RSS Tenacious, Australia's HMAS Toowoomba, Malaysia's KD Lekiu, Peru's BAP Ferre, South Korea's ROKS Dae Jo Young and USS Sterett from the US.

The RSN is also commander of the task group for training in anti-submarine warfare, leading Peru's BAP Ferre, Chile's CNS Lynch, the USS Lake Erie and USS William P Lawrence, and multinational helicopters and aircraft.

Last Thursday, the RSS Tenacious conducted a successful simultaneous time-on-target Harpoon surface-to-surface live missile firing. It involved the firing of two missiles to hit a target at the same time.

Commanding Officer of RSS Tenacious, Lieutenant-Colonel Lee Jan, said Exercise Rimpac is useful for the Singapore navy to train with established navies from around the world and hone its warfare capabilities. "Most importantly, the exercise gives us the opportunity to forge friendships and build closer cooperation with the multinational navies involved," he said.