Royal Australian Navy HMAS Hobart SM2 missile firing RIMPAC 2020.

At the moment, HMA Ships Hobart, Stuart, Arunta and Sirius are on a Regional Presence Deployment through Southeast Asia and the Pacific and are taking part in RIMPAC 2020. This will be the first RIMPAC that the RAN’s Hobart-class guided-missile destroyers have taken part in.
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Air Warfare Destroyer HMAS Hobart successfully fires a Harpoon Blast Test Vehicle in the East Australian Exercise Area. (Picture source: Royal Australian Navy)

HMAS Hobart has become the first Hobart Class guided-missile destroyer to conduct a live-fire at Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2020, making it the most sophisticated and lethal warship ever operated by the Royal Australian Navy.

Alongside ships from the United States and Canada, Hobart successfully fired an SM-2 standard missile against an unmanned target as part of the exercise scenario.

Ten nations, 22 surface ships, one submarine, multiple aircraft, and about 5300 personnel are participating at Rimpac.

A SM-2 standard missile is launched from HMAS Hobart off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2020. (Picture source: Royal Australian Navy)

This year’s exercise includes forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, and the United States.

Participating forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities from multinational anti-submarine warfare, maritime intercept operations, and live-fire training events, among other cooperative training opportunities.

Hobart carries a range of weapons systems, including an Mk41 Vertical Launch System containing SM-2 missiles and Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles, a Mk 45 5-inch main gun, Phalanx Close-In Weapons System, two 25mm Typhoon guns, and MU90 and Mk54 light-weight torpedoes for subsurface defence.