PLA Daily: Top 10 military exercises of world in 2012(2)

B. "Pacific Rim – 2012" military exercise

Exercise time: June 29 to August 3

Participating countries: 22 countries including the United States, Australia, France, Japan, South Korea, Russia and India

Exercise location: sea areas surrounding the Hawaiian Islands

Exercise contents: amphibious operations, artillery firing, guided missile strike, anti-submarine, air defense, anti-piracy, mine clearing and explosive removal, and maritime (overwater and underwater) rescue, etc.

Concern index: ★★★★★

Reason for concern: the world's largest joint naval exercise among many countries in 2012

Military strength committed: 42 surface ships, 6 submarines, 200-odd airplanes and 25,000 soldiers including the U.S. aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, amphibious assault ships and littoral combat ships

Expert's comments: this is an annual regular exercise held in the Pacific region among armed forces of many countries led by the U.S. troops. The exercise is unprecedented in scale, scope and contents. During the exercise, the U.S. military granted its allies more operational command power, which greatly improved the allied forces' coordinated operation capability. (By Li Xiang, with the Department of World Military Studies under the AMS of the PLA)