RIMPAC 2026 SINKEX: US, Japan, Spain Sink Two Warships with HIMARS, Type 12, LRASM, Harpoon

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RIMPAC 2026 SINKEX Highlights Expanding Allied Anti-Ship Capabilities

Published on: 23 July 2026 By: Aaron-Matthew Lariosa

RIMPAC 2026: USS Mobile Bay SINKEX

U.S. and allied forces sank two warships off Hawaii during the RIMPAC 2026 sinking exercise (SINKEX), showcasing joint strikes involving HIMARS, Type 12, LRASM, and submarine-launched Harpoon missiles.

The United States and its allies sank two ships off Hawaii this month as part of the culminating sinking exercise for Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026.

A total of 30,000 personnel are operating across 30 vessels, five submarines, and 15 ground force components in this year’s iteration of the drills. While RIMPAC began in June, live-fire and more intensive training activities are intensifying as the at-sea phase of the exercise progresses.

In recent iterations, the U.S. has incorporated more technologies and capabilities designed to counter China during the multilateral naval drills. American armed service branches have used RIMPAC to debut and showcase new maritime strike systems in a combined joint operating environment. Allied and partner nations, including Japan, Australia, the Philippines, and South Korea, have also used the drills to conduct live-fire exercises.

RIMPAC 2026: USS Peleliu SINKEX

RIMPAC 2026: USS Peleliu SINKEX

RIMPAC drills culminate with a SINKEX, allowing participating nations to showcase new maritime strike weaponry using American-provided targets and kill chain networks. For this year’s lineup, participants sank the decommissioned amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA-5) and the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG-53).

Media from the Pentagon and respective participating nations have revealed the extent of long-range strike munitions, air defense systems, and unmanned surface vessels deployed for RIMPAC 2026.

Maritime Strike and Air Defense at RIMPAC

Spanish Navy Ship ESPS Alvaro De Bazan (F101) launches a Harpoon missile. (Spanish Navy photo)

Over the weekend, U.S. and Japanese ground branches coordinated joint targeting and firing against an unspecified maritime target off Hawaii. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery Regiment of the Kentucky Army National Guard fired their M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Japanese missile crews salvoed their Type 12 surface-to-ship missile system, which has become a hallmark in many of Tokyo’s maritime strike activities with its partners.

Washington and Tokyo are heavily investing in expanding the capabilities of these two systems to bolster ground-based maritime strike fires in a potential conflict with China. The U.S. Army aims to field munitions capable of striking ships at extended ranges from HIMARS. Proof-of-concept deployments via landing craft and transport aircraft onto remote islands across the first island chain by the Army and the U.S. Marine Corps have preceded the deployment of envisioned ship-sinking munitions.

In Japan, improved Type 12 missiles were recently introduced to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), and batteries of the surface-to-ship missiles will be fully operational along the Ryukyu Islands near Taiwan.

Offshore, the Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Alvaro De Bazan (F101) fired an AGM-84 Harpoon at the Peleliu. Additional Harpoons were deployed from American nuclear attack submarines.

RIMPAC 2026: USS Mobile Bay SINKEX as seen from an attack submarine’s periscope.

The Los Angeles-class submarine loaded at least one UGM-84 missile for the SINKEX. These Cold War-era encapsulated anti-ship missiles were brought back during RIMPAC 2018 amid the rise of the Chinese Navy in the late 2010s.

At least one AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) was fired by an American Super Hornet. U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and Royal New Zealand Navy helicopters also launched missiles against the target hulks.

A U.S. Army Apache helicopter launching a SPIKE NLOS missile during RIMPAC 2026.

Tags: Anti-ship missile, RIMPAC, SINKEX

Picture of Aaron-Matthew Lariosa