While Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) ’24 off Hawaii — the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise– just wrapped up its 29th outing since it was established in 1971, one that included 29 nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, more than 150 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel– there was also another large exercise going on at the same time in the Pacific that gets very little attention.
And it included an Italian carrier task force, something never before seen in those waters.
Going back to 1981, the Royal Australian Air Force-led Exercise Pitch Black 24 has grown increasingly over the past four decades.
This year’s event was the biggest ever, including 20 participating nations and over 140 aircraft from around the globe. While typically shore-based, with aircraft from the U.S. (F-22s), Singapore, Indonesia, India, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Spain, Brunei, New Zealand, and Canada flying in, the Italians showed up with a carrier task force, 31st Grupponavale, centered around the 27,000-ton aircraft carrier Cavour (C550).
Cavour’s embarked air group blended six F-35B STOVL Lightnings and another six legacy AV-8B/TAV-8B Harrier II Plus aircraft of GRUPAER (Gruppo Supporto Aerei Imbarcati della Marina Militare) Lupi, as well as EH101 and SH90 helicopters. She has hangar and deck space for 20~ aircraft, so this is about right.
It is nice to see AV-8Bs still making it happen
Cavour was escorted by the 7,000-ton Bergamini-class ASW FREMM frigate Alpino (F-594).
Cavour and Alpino called at Darwin, a historic first.
Cavour at Darwin during Pitch Black 2024. RAAF LACW Annika Smith
The Italian Navy frigate Alpino F-594 arrived at the Kuru Wharf at HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin, Northern Territory, ahead of Exercise Pitch Black 24. RAAF LAC Kurt Lewis
In all, Cavour’s group chalked up 70 flight hours and 20 missions during Pitch Black, including refueling and air-to-air interaction with aircraft belonging to nine of the 20 participating nations.
This led to some great formation shots with Cavour and Alpino underway in the Coral Sea and an RAAF E-7A Wedgetail, F-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler; Italian Harrier and F-35B; Indian Su-30MKI, Philippine FA-50PH, Luftwaffe Typhoon, and JASDF F-2As overhead. If you told a circa 1942 USN vet this would happen one day they would surely scratch their head.
A Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail leads a formation of aircraft past the Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour during Exercise Pitch Black 2024. RAAF photo Corporal Sam Miller
RAAF photo Corporal Sam Miller
A Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail leads a formation of aircraft during Exercise Pitch Black 2024. RAAF photo Corporal Sam Miller
RAAF photo Corporal Sam Miller
RAAF photo Corporal Sam Miller
The Most Beautiful Ship in the World
Meanwhile, another of Cavour’s escorts on her 2024 Pacific cruise, the 5,800-ton Thaon di Revel-class offshore patrol vessel ITS Montecuccoli (P432), was detached to participate in RIMPAC and met up at sea with the “most beautiful ship in the world,” the Italian navy’s historic nave scuola (training ship) Amerigo Vespucci (A5312) which was inbound for Honolulu from Los Angeles on her own independent cruise.
This led to some amazing shots of the two in a series PASSEX maneuvers.
Built at the Royal Shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia and running some 329 feet in length over the bowsprit, Vespucci’s main mast towers 177 feet into the air and, when fully rigged, she carries up to 26 canvas sails.
Vespucci recently celebrated her 90th birthday and set sail last July on a 20-month, 40,000-mile world cruise that will see the Italian ship dock at 31 ports in 28 nations, visiting five continents.
Her crew and cadets made sure to pay respect and honors to USS Arizona during their visit to Pearl.Â
The biannual RIMPAC exercises are always a double-edged sword in the aspect that there is typically a SINKEX or three that sees the deep-sixing of a hard-serving veteran without ceremony in a funeral pyre of expended ordnance worthy of a Viking king.
This loss is balanced in a series of PASSEX and PHOTOEX events in which some of the best and most enduring photos of the warships of the day pass from current media assets to historical records. Remember, the best images we have of the ships of old typically came during Fleet Problems and exercises of the sort that RIMPAC emulates.
With that, we have a run-down of each.
First, the bad.
This year’s RIMPAC saw the decommissioned 17,000-ton Austin-class amphibious transport dock ex-USS Dubuque (LPD 8) and the 40,000-ton big deck ‘phib (surrogate Chinese aircraft carrier) ex-USS Tarawa (LHA 1)pummeled to the seabed between July 11 and July 19 in waters 15,000 feet deep, more than 50 nautical miles off the northern coast of Kauai.
The blows came from a mix of air assets including Hellfires from Army AH-64 Apache gunships of the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division; a Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) from a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet; 2,000-pound Quicksink bombs from a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, a Harpoon from a Dutch frigate, Norwegian-made Naval Strike Missiles making their first live-fires from American (USS Fitzgerald) and Australian (HMAS Sydney) destroyers, and a series of 105mm howitzer and 30mm cannon hits from an Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider from the 27th SOW out of Canon AFB.Â
And that is just what they disclosed.
The Army and Navy only released images of ordnance in flight, while dramatic footage of the Ghostrider working over Dubuque’s topside with its guns was made available.
HMAS Sydney fires Royal Australian Navy’s first Naval Strike Missile during a SINKEX off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii as a part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. The Royal Australian Navy has accelerated Naval Strike Missile installation in Surface Combatants, culminating in the 18 Jul live firing demonstration off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise RIMPAC 2024. This aligns with Government Direction announced in the 2022 Defence Strategic Review and the 2024 National Defence Strategy. LSIS Daniel Goodman, RAN
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), while participating in Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, fires the first naval strike missile from a U.S. destroyer on July 18. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Jennings)
Royal Netherlands Navy De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate HNLMS Tromp (F803) fires an RGM-84 Harpoon missile during a long-planned live-fire sinking exercise as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. (Royal Netherlands Navy photo by Cristian Schrik)
An AH-64 Apache helicopter attached 2nd Battalion, 6th Cavalry Squadron, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division shoots an AGM-114 Hellfire missile towards the decommissioned Austin-class amphibious transport dock USS Dubuque for a long-planned, live-fire sinking exercise (SINKEX) off the coast of Kauai during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 11. Each SINKEX is conducted in strict compliance with applicable U.S. environmental laws, regulations, and permit requirements to minimize potential environmental harm. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Perla Alfaro)
Of note, no footage or images of Tarawa have been released, likely as it was subjected to most of the new ordnance, and, since those lessons are costly to learn, you might as well keep it as close to the vest as possible.
Now the good
Without further, how about those beautiful ship images, including some rarely seen platforms (escorts from Brunei, Canada, Germany, Korea, Mexico, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Holland, and Italy along with Korean ‘phibs and a German oiler). Then you have old platforms with new weapons (Kidd and Gridley with AN/SEQ-4 ODIN lasers, Fitzgerald with NSMs, Carl Vinson with embarked F-35Cs of VFA-97).
Plus there are just some downright interesting old hulls such as the circa 1991 Chilean frigate Almirante Condell (FF-06) which is the former RN Type 23 frigate HMS Marlborough (F233);Â and the circa 1970 Mexican gator ARM Usumacinta (A412), the former Vietnam-era USS Frederick (LST-1184).
Then of course this is possibly the last hurrah of the venerable USS Princeton (CG 59) which is projected for inactivation as soon as next October.
Enjoy!
Republic of Korea Navy destroyer ROKS Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin (DDH 975) sails in formation on July 22, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
German Navy replenishment ship FGS Frankfurt Am Main (A 1412) sails in formation off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Chilean Navy frigate CNS Almirante Condell (FF 06) sails in formation off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) sails in formation, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HMNLMS Tromp (F 803) sails in formation, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024 July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) sails in formation, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Royal Brunei Navy offshore patrol vessel KDB Darulaman (OPV 08) sails in formation off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Indian Navy frigate INS Shivalik (F 47) sails in formation off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Mexican Navy frigate ARM Benito Juarez (F 101) sails in formation, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Royal Malaysian Navy frigate KD Lekiu (FFGH 30) sails in formation, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Indonesian Navy frigate KRI R.E. Martadinata (331) sails in formation on July 22, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Italian Navy offshore patrol vessel ITS Montecuccoli (P 432) sails in formation on July 22, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Multinational ships sail in formation on July 22, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. Twenty-nine nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, more than 150 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC in and around the Hawaiian Islands, June 27 to Aug. 1. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Corban Lundborg)
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force amphibious transport dock ship JS Kunisaki (LST 4003), South Korean Navy destroyer ROKS Yulgok Yi I (DDG 992), and the Virginia-class submarine USS North Carolina (SSN 777) along with other multinational ships sail in formation off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class R. Ezekiel Duran)
Multinational ships sail in formation on July 22, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. Twenty-nine nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, more than 150 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC in and around the Hawaiian Islands, June 27 to Aug. 1. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
Mexican Navy tank landing ship ARM Usumacinta (A 412) sails in formation, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) led the formation of warships during RIMPAC 2024. She carries the “Air Wing Of The Future” including F-35C Lightning II, F/A-18E/F Block III Super Hornet, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, EA-18G Growler, and MH-60R/S Seahawk with cutting-edge new weapons such as the very long-range AIM-174B air-to-air missile. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier leads a group sail on July 22, off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Corban Lundborg)
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) sails in formation off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, July 22, 2024. Note her ODIN laser forward. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Bellino)
USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) during RIMPAC 2024 Flight II Burke
USS Gridley (DDG 101), the 8th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer fitted with ODIN laser weapon systems.
