Pacific Reach
In view of the tragedy onboard the Russian submarine Kursk, the ability for nations to rapidly and effectively cooperate on submarine rescue issues has assumed vital importance for many Asia-Pacific navies. Exercise PACIFIC REACH 2000 was the first multilateral submarine rescue exercise to be conducted in the Pacific. Participating nations were Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and the United States. Observers were from Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Significant multilateral cooperation achieved during PACIFIC REACH 2000 included the employment of a multinational submarine medical team and group of international observers representing a total of 7 nations, the first time the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has practiced a rescue on a Republic of Korea Navy submarine. The professionalism and cooperation on many complex technical issues displayed during PACIFIC REACH is an encouraging reinforcement of the enhanced regional cooperation principle of willing nations working together to achieve practical solutions (in this case, the building of a timely multilateral submarine rescue capability).
The multinational exercise Pacific Reach 2002, designed to improve submarine rescue capabilities, kicked off 22 April 2002 with comments from the participating nation's commanders. The ships of five nations with observers from seven others left Sasebo harbor to conduct submarine rescue exercises off the west coast of Kyusyu Island, Japan.
Members of the U.S., Japan, Australia, Republic of Korea and Republic of Singapore navies will participate in Pacific Reach, with observers from Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Chili, France, China and India. The exercise will include several underwater events, including submarine rescue exercises that will cross-deck the countries' various deep submersible rescue vehicles (DSRV).
The first event in the exercise was a dive medicine symposium, held in Sasebo, Japan April 23-24. The symposium was the first of its kind. The major concerns of dive medicine include decompression sickness, saturation, hypothermia, burns, hypoxia, near drowning, toxic gas exposure, cardiac complications and psychological trauma. Other issues and medical concerns were also discussed at the medical symposium. Studies were presented on subjects extending from new technologies and products for treating survivors and extending survival time inside a disabled submarine, to medical storage space aboard a submarine and the handling of mass casualties aboard a rescue support ship.
Pacific Reach is intended not only to improve submarine rescue capabilities, but also to familiarize the different nations with just such issues. Nations could very easily have to rely on each other's aid to rescue the crew of a disabled submarine. Since there are only eight U.S. submarines capable of attaching a DSRV and their operations could place them days away from a potential rescue location, the possibility exists that the U.S. would request the assistance of another country.
Pacific Reach is the first multinational exercise hosted by the JMSDF. It is only the second Western Pacific submarine rescue exercise, with the first being conducted off the coast of Singapore two years earlier.
