Report on U.S. Military Power 2012 (35)

Exercise Carat 2012. From July 2ndto 11th, a joint U.S.-Philippines maritime military exercise, code-named Carat, was carried out in southern Philippines. About 950 sailors and coast guards participated in the exercise which includes such subjects as maritime interdiction, diving, maritime firing, and maritime search and rescue. The purpose of the exercise is to improve maritime security capabilities and foster coordination among units involved in the exercise.

Philippines-U.S. Balikatan Expercise 2012. From April 16thto 28th, 2,300 Philippine soldiers and 4,500 U.S. soldiers took part in a 12-day joint exercise in Luzon and Palawan. Training subjects include evacuation, live-ammunition firing, landing assault using small boats, amphibious landing, and so on. Military observers from Japan, the ROK, and Australia were invited for the first time.

Joint exercise involving the U.S., the ROK, and Japan. From June 21st to 22nd, the U.S., the ROK, and Japan conducted a joint maritime military exercise in the waters south of the Korean Peninsula. Destroyers, logistics support ships, anti-submarine helicopters from the ROK and the U.S. navies and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force took part in maritime search and rescue and interdiction drills. Such trilateral exercises were conducted many times in either Hawaii or Japan, but this is the first time when it was conducted off the coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Exercise Cope North 2012: From February 11th to 24th, the U.S. Air Force, JASDF, and the Royal Australian Air Force conducted “Cope North 2012”, a joint exercise in the Pacific. It is the first time when Australian Air Force took part in “Cope North” series which used to be hosted in the Anderson AFB and participated by air units from USAF and JASDF. F-16 fighters from the 18th Aggressor Squadron of the Eielson AFB played the Opposition Force, B-52 bombers from the 23rd Bomber Squadron of the Minot AFB played the role of both the friendly force and the enemy. The training subjects in the exercise include humanitarian disaster relief efforts, air combat involving various planes, land attack, and so on. From these subjects it is easy to infer that the exercise is targeted at potential rivals in Northeast Asia.

Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC)2012: The world’s largest international maritime exercise led by the U.S. was carried out in and around Hawaii from June 29thto August 3rd. 42 warships, six submarines, over 200 military planes and 25,000 military personnel from 22 countries were involved in the joint action. The scale of the RIMPAC series keeps on increasing, with only eight countries in 2006, 14 in 2010, and 22 in 2012. The main subjects include amphibious landing, artillery firing, missile attack, anti-submarine operations, air defense, anti-piracy, mine sweeping, explosive ordnance disposal, surface and underwater rescue, humanitarian aid, and so on. During RIMPAC 2012, U.S. military did not take up all the command and control; except that Rear Admiral Gerald Beaman, commander of the Third Fleet acted as Command in Chief, all key commanding roles were taken up by non-U.S. officers. It is of note here that among the new participants of the exercise, there are not only the ROK, a traditional U.S. ally, but also India and Russia. China, as a majorAsia-Pacific power, was not invited.

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