The decision was finalized at a meeting earlier this month in San Diego, attended by senior defense officials from Canada, the United States, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore. Two Canadian Navy frigates from British Columbia – HMCS Vancouver and HMCS Winnipeg – will be accompanied by Cyclone helicopters, an Aurora patrol aircraft and a pair of coastal defense ships, HMCS Brandon and HMCS at Edmonton this summer. . The Ministry of National Defense says that the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has pulled Canadian frigates from Halifax to Europe to support NATO deterrent measures against Russia, will not affect the planned naval training in the Pacific region. “Planning for the participation of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise is continuing as originally planned despite the events in Ukraine,” National Defense spokeswoman Véronique Sabourin said in an email. “Operational readiness management programs ensure CAF ‘s readiness to conduct simultaneous operations by participating in and conducting specific drills and training events in Canada and internationally with allies and partners,” Sabourin added. Canada will play key leadership roles in this year’s exercise. Rear Admiral Angus Topshee will serve as Deputy Commander of the Joint Task Force, Brigadier General. Mark Goulden will command Exercise Aerial and Cmdr. Doug Layton will serve as Deputy Commander for the Navy.
25,000 STAFF FROM 27 COUNTRIES
The two-year RIMPAC exercise was last conducted in 2020, when Canada sent a smaller body than originally planned due to the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exercise itself was reduced to two weeks instead of the usual six and was conducted exclusively at sea after the US Navy canceled ground training that had been part of RIMPAC since its inception. The 2022 exercise is expected to be a return to full interoperability training with approximately 25,000 troops, 41 ships, four submarines and more than 170 aircraft from 27 participating countries. The list of participating countries will likely not be made public until June, when the exercise will begin, according to a spokesman for the US Navy’s Third Fleet, which is hosting the event. The big question for many military observers is whether the United States will invite Taiwan to the exercise for the first time, either as a participant or as an observer. In December, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a defense spending bill that included a recommendation to conduct “internships and military exercises with Taiwan, including, where appropriate, an invitation from Taiwan to participate in the Pacific Rim of will be held in 2022 “. The invitation was proposed by the US Congress to address “the increasingly coercive and aggressive behavior of the People’s Republic of China towards Taiwan”, in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act. RIMPAC started as an annual exercise in 1971 before being transferred every two years due to its large size. Canada is one of the founding countries of the exercise, along with the United States and Australia. The National Defense describes its participation in the war exercise as a key opportunity to build multinational relations and enhance peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
