A P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft assigned to Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No. 11 Squadron conducted a simulated attack on a US Navy Los Angeles-class attack submarine, USS Topeka (SSN 754), utilizing four Mark 54 Lightweight Exercise Torpedoes during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024.
Held across training areas in and around the Hawaiian Islands from 26 June to 02 August 2024, Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2024 (RIMPAC) is a biennial international military exercise hosted by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
The ADF contribution includes the Royal Australian Navy Hobart Class guided missile destroyer (DDG) HMAS Sydney and a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
RIMPAC aims to be the premier joint combined maritime exercise and enables Australia to strengthen international partnerships, enhance interoperability and improve readiness for a wide range of potential operations.
This year RIMPAC will feature 30 nations, 40 surface ships, four submarines, 14 national land forces, more than 170 aircraft and approximately 25,000 personnel.
For Squadron Leader Tristan Hull, the mission held particular significance. “It’s not very often that we get to drop exercise torpedoes,” he remarked, highlighting the rarity of such training opportunities, especially against a live target. He further emphasized the value of the exercise for Tactical Coordinators, calling it “almost certainly the highlight of a career.”
The P-8A crew meticulously followed anti-submarine warfare procedures. They deployed sonobuoys to track the submarine’s location, analyzed the acoustic data, and then employed their expertise to determine an optimal attack solution. Squadron Leader Hull emphasized the collaborative nature of the mission, crediting sonobuoy placement by the Tactical Coordinator, interpretation by the acoustics operator, and precise piloting for the successful weapon deployment.
The Mark 54 exercise torpedoes used in this exercise are specifically designed for training purposes. They lack explosives and are programmed to surface after a set time, allowing for retrieval by helicopter and reuse. Based on their own tracking data, the RAAF crew is confident that each torpedo would have successfully acquired its target in a real-world scenario. However, post-mission analysis of the torpedo data will provide a definitive confirmation.
Squadron Leader Hull concluded by underlining the unique training value offered by a large-scale exercise like RIMPAC. This multinational event provides opportunities for the RAAF to conduct complex maneuvers and hone their skills against realistic targets, exceeding the capabilities of training exercises conducted solely within Australia.
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