PACIFIC OCEAN -- Guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), Republic of Korea Sejong the Great-class destroyer Sejong the Great (DDG 991) and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer helicopter ship JS Hayuga (DDH 181) conducted a surface exercise July 16 as part of the Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2016.

The exercise demonstrated the combined forces' ability to respond to a small boat attack as Chung-Hoon and Sejong the Great deployed their small boats to simulate attacks on the ships.

“The objective of the exercise was to give us, along with our foreign partners, the opportunity to familiarize query and warning report procedures,” said Lt. Peter Larsen, Chung-Hoon’s operations officer. “The exercise also gave us a chance to enhance our surface-to-surface engagement capability with combined forces and improve maneuverability in screen while altering sector, threat, axis and course.”

Larsen added that the exercise went extremely well, with all ships coordinating actions over voice communications and tactical data links to defend the force as a composite unit.

The exercise began with both small boats simulating attacks on their respective ships before commencing a simulated attack on JS Hyuga, the high value unit of the exercise.

“An exercise like this gives Chung-Hoon and its foreign partners the experience and training for possible real-world encounters,” said Chung-Hoon’s Commanding Officer Cmdr. Tom Ogden. “Training of this magnitude is invaluable and completing it with allies like Japan and Korea simultaneously shows the strength of the relationship among our nations and is a model of what RIMPAC is supposed to be: demonstrating capable, adaptive partners.”

Twenty-six nations, 49 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 29 to Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.

The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.

RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971.