Original subtitles

They have assembled here from the four corners of the earth.

Fifty-five warships.

Among them, the newest and most sophisticated ever produced.

The United States is here,

Great Britain, India, Japan,

Canada, France, Australia, Germany.

Twenty-six nations altogether.

Each will introduce the latest naval technology in their arsenals.

Twenty-two thousand men and women

will be tested over the coming month,

across a vast expanse of ocean covering thousands of square miles.

Have a great weekend.

The command center and flagship of the operation

is the nuclear-powered supercarrier,

a marvel of modern engineering.

The operation is called rim of the pacific,

the world's largest and most complex naval exercise.

It will be as close to actual warfare as is peacefully possible.

They began to appear nearly 5,000 years ago in the mediterranean sea.

They were the largest and most glorious moving objects known to mankind.

Powered by oars, their tactics were simple.

They rammed and sank enemy ships.

Aahh!

Soldiers on board carried only bows, arrows and Spears,

yet great battles ensued.

Raging for weeks, there was often the loss of hundreds of ships

and thousands of men.

For centuries to come, navies with the best-trained crews,

the bravest commanders, and the mightiest warships would rule the world.

The modern supercarrier remains at sea for months at a time,

and is home for over 5,000 personnel.

A virtual city at sea.

All right, con. Let's go.

Let's go 3-6-0. Let's go 15 knots.

That'll get us into the box on time. Aye, sir.

The captain is from an elite group

that has over 25 years of naval aviation experience.

Territorial waters over there, right? We gotta...

Hey, so, just let the helos know

territorial waters are only eight miles to the east.

Yup. Thanks.

Okay.

Con, left steer, course 1-7-5.

Con, left steer, course 1-7-5, aye.

Conning officer, my rudder is left two degrees, coming into course 1-7-5.

Ninety-two fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters

are readied for a month of intense flight ops

as demanding as combat itself.

Those wearing green shirts maintain airframes and engines.

Red shirts are responsible for ammo and weapons.

Popeye symbolizes the Navy as a strength.

You think of popeye, and you think of a really strong, you know,

us sailor that you want to represent yourself as.

And I think we all use him as a role model today.

Purple shirts, or “grapes,” fuel the aircraft.

Aircrew are now Manning up for the event seven, case three launch, case three recovery.

The temperature is 68 degrees; The altimeter, 2-9-9-6;

and the density altitude, 940 feet.

On the fod walk, crews are looking for anything

that might get sucked into an engine as the aircraft take off.

Pilots have been killed by almost invisible nuts and bolts.

Nuclear-powered carriers have almost unlimited range,

like sailing ships of the past.

Two centuries ago, sail-powered galleons with a hundred guns

emerged on the high seas to fight at battles like trafalgar.

The French and Spanish were the superior force.

Led by Napoleon, they were thought to be invincible.

But the British commander Horatio Nelson

had innovative tactics and was more aggressive.

Cannonballs fired at close range inflicted a terrible carnage.

Nearly 8,000 sailors were killed on both sides.

The French and Spanish lost 22 ships.

The British lost none.

Nelson, though he was killed,

became a legend, along with his flagshipvictory.

From the triumph at trafalgar

grew a worldwide British empire

that would last another century.

Control of the high seas requires a mastery

of the most advanced possible technology.

Deep in the heart of the ship

sit two uranium-powered nuclear reactors.

Essentially miniature suns,

these radioactive furnaces boil water

to create high-pressure steam that spins giant turbines.

The carrier's eight electric generators

could easily power a city of 100,000 people.

Using massive reduction gearboxes,

the turbines also turn four mammoth propeller shafts

that drive the ship at around 35 knots.

Its top speed remains highly classified.

With regular maintenance, they can run continuously

without refueling for 20 years.

Teamwork, collaboration, camaraderie,

staying mentally and physically fit,

are all critical among the crew of a smooth-running ship.

Every one of the 5,212 personnel

is integral in the success of the operation.

Do a nice, easy turn. Don't thrust or pull.

No tiny detail is left to chance.

Does that make sense?

Absolutely. Okay, cool.

Roger that.

Deck patrol, 2-11 needs to be spotted off cat one.

Blue shirts position and secure the aircraft on the deck,

making sure they are presented for launch in the right order.

Training has been continuous

since the very first carriers were launched

more than a century ago.

The battle group commander

is responsible for the coordination

of all 26 nations during the exercise.

Yeah, that's true. I mean, we had ships from Italy...

Patience, communication, and diplomacy

were not the hallmarks of legendary admirals,

but in an increasingly complex and lethal world, they are critical.

People want to participate, and they want to help,

and give their navies a chance to shine.

Came around on track, sir. Previously reported contacts now on our port bow drawing left.

Recommend maintain, sir. No. I think what I want to do

is come a little bit more to starboard, and, uh...

It's starting to merge through the fog. Let's get through this. Come up at speed 20 knots.

The Japanese on the starboard, and then the Canadians are coming up...

They're just behind us, right? Uh, yes, sir.

The carrier, as the flagship,

is responsible for getting 55 vessels from all over the world

organized and sailing together in reasonable order.

Delta, bravo...

Seven hours per day.

It's a big beacon.

It's, uh, distance... 2,500 kilometers from...

This kind of international cooperation

was inconceivable even a hundred years ago.

By the beginning of the 20th century,

the giant guns of dreadnoughts, or battleships,

would dwarf the cannons of trafalgar.

As the first world war began,

britain had a significant edge over Germany

in both ships and guns,

and did not expect to be challenged.

But in June of 1916,

250 British and German ships

engaged off the coast of jutland in the north sea.

It would come to be known as the greatest battleship duel of all time.

Fourteen British and eleven German ships were sunk.

8,500 young men were killed.

The age of the battleship had come to an end

in less than two hours of fighting.

Modern defense systems are evolving at an accelerating pace,

questioning the wisdom of expensive new procurement,

challenging the status quo.

The goal of rimpac is, in part,

to test and integrate advances in weapons technology.

It gives crews a chance to perfect their skills

under battle-like conditions.

The operation of an aircraft carrier is, in itself,

nearly as dangerous as actual combat,

and everyone on board is well aware of that.

Easy with it now. Easy with it.

Easy with it. Easy with it.

Modern fighter aircraft, like the f-18 super hornet,

can lock on and intercept enemy aircraft

long before visual contact,

yet they still carry machine guns

that look like they might belong on a world war I biplane.

Even in an age of advanced missiles,

pilots must still prepare for the unlikely prospect

of an old-fashioned dogfight.

Launching a 37,000-pound f-18 super hornet

off a carrier may look simple,

but bad weather, enemy fire, and accidents

all contribute to very real danger.

After a century of trial and error,

one launch system has proved robust and reliable.

Below deck are tanks of high-pressure steam

from the nuclear-powered boilers.

They provide explosive expansion power to pistons

sitting in 300-foot-long tubes.

Like shells waiting in the barrel of a gun.

Once released, the power of the piston

can launch an aircraft with the force of four g's,

catapulting the plane from zero to 160 miles an hour

in just three seconds.

Every role on board is critical

to the exquisite ballet of launch and recovery.

Heads up!

As exciting as the steam-powered catapult launch

is for the fighter pilot,

a safe landing is even better.

An aircraft's tailhook must snag one of four arresting cables.

This braided wire weaves 900 feet through the carrier

down to an arrestor engine.

As the momentum of the plane pulls on the cable,

a huge piston forces hydraulic fluid in one tank

against air in another,

compressing the air up to 400 pounds per square inch...

Stopping the aircraft and pilot in just two seconds.

The comforting embrace of the arresting cable

is regarded as among the most euphoric experiences in all of aviation.

Japanese on the starboard, normandyin front. That looks pretty good.

All right. And the submarines.

Who can find the submarines?

Always... It's always the submarines.

The great strength of the submarine is its stealth.

Annoying to its friends, lethal to its enemies.

We still need one more submarine to find.

Yes, sir. I'm still waiting on the t.A. To call back. All right...

Also at rimpac is the new Virginia class submarine.

It is 377 feet long

and 34 feet wide.

Speed can exceed 25 knots

and potentially over 30.

Onboard, crew number 120

enlisted men and women and 14 officers.

- Range 4-1-0 yards. - Very well.

The nuclear propulsion system

produces 40,000 horsepower.

Safety sweep. A modern nuclear sub

could stay underwater almost indefinitely,

like an aircraft carrier limited only by

its on board supply of food.

It makes its own fresh water for drinking and showers.

I understand what you're saying, but we cannot risk attacking a neutral country.

They are capable of launching Mark 48 torpedoes,

tactical tomahawks, harpoon missiles,

and the new, advanced mobile mine.

When they racetrack back around.

More than a thousand feet of water

provides a stealthy layer of protection for the submarine

as it defends the carrier and other surface ships above.

Like great weapons of the past,

navies simply cannot afford to lose battles fought in earnest.

Despite the horrendous losses suffered by the Germans and British at jutland,

battleships reappeared in the second world war...

Much bigger and far more lethal.

Enchanted with the powerful symbolism of big guns,

Adolf Hitler invested heavily in battleships,

including thetirpitz andbismarck.

The German ships were superbly built and manned.

They were thought to be invincible like the Nazis themselves.

Jj

The cruisernorfolk sighted thebismarck

before her battle with thehood.

Followed the German ship like a bloodhound.

Thebismarck's rudder was damaged by light aircraft.

The crippled ship was then pounded

by 2,800 shells from British warships,

before being scuttled by the German crew.

2,100 German sailors died.

As the age of the battleship was coming to a close,

that of the aircraft carrier was just beginning.

Each rimpac features emerging advanced technology,

like the f-35, a fifth-generation strike fighter.

Since world war ll,

increasingly powerful radar has been used

to detect inbound enemy aircraft.

With growing sophistication,

modern radar has been used to lock on to enemy planes

and shoot them down with guided missiles

fired over the horizon beyond visual range.

All right. Hold on. Let me check the roll.

Much of the new fighter's advancements focus

on hiding from radar with a technology called stealth.

The f-35 has multiple layers of skin coating

that absorb radar waves,

preventing them from bouncing back to enemy radar screens.

Engine intake and exhausts are specially designed

to deflect and mask the jet's thermal signature,

avoiding detection from heat-seeking missiles.

It can carry more than 15,000 pounds of weapons externally,

or more than 5,000 pounds internally,

dramatically improving the f35's stealth profile.

The us marine variant, the f-35b,

has more than 40,000 pounds of thrust,

giving pilots more raw power

than any other fighter engine in history.

704 airborne.

704 departure. Radar contact.

The us Navy's version is the f-35c.

Designed for carrier operations,

it has larger wings, with tips that fold,

and tougher landing gear for catapult launches and carrier arrestments.

413 departure. Radar contact.

413 airborne.

201 airborne.

The pilot's helmet displays all pertinent information

no matter where the pilot is looking.

The aircraft's distributed aperture system

uses six electro-optical sensors,

giving the pilot an unprecedented 360 degrees

of situational awareness.

Level 2-5-0...

The pilot can actually look through the aircraft itself.

All the key information the pilot needs

is projected onto the helmet's visor,

allowing for instant coordinated response.

The missile warning system sees subtle heat differences across the landscape.

Flight 873's got mam at 270 for 45 at 25,000.

The new strike fighter shares data seamlessly with other f-35s,

but also with allied aircraft and commanders on water or land.

205, Roger.

Computer technology so sophisticated,

it can identify types of planes and nationality

and recommend to the pilot suggested weapons to deploy.

The das sensors can even spot a whale

or, more importantly, a submarine on the surface.

Lightning 7-3, target.

When submarines first appeared in the theater of war,

British admirals considered them unethical...

The weapons of cowards who refused to fight on the surface like real men.

The stealthy, high-tech German submarine

was regarded by some as the battleship of the future.

In the early years of world war il,

they had a lethal advantage in the north Atlantic.

Attacking and sinking thousands of defenseless cargo ships,

strangling the lifeline of the allied war effort.

In desperation, hundreds of small corvettes

were hurriedly built to defend the convoys.

Based on a fishing boat, they were cheap and simple.

Their crews were amateurs and most often teenagers.

They had the smallest guns in the Navy.

Yet day and night, they fought the terrible cruelty of submarine warfare,

struggling to save the lives of merchant seamen.

The British, American,

and Canadian forces of the sea and air

hurled our strength upon the u-boat.

Gradually, these and other tiny escort ships

of the Canadian, British, and American navies

clawed back the German advantage,

sinking 700 submarines

and winning the largest naval battle in human history.

Early submarines were plagued by lack of situational awareness.

Like blind mice in a cave, they knew little of what lay around them.

Ship to 5-8 feet. Submerge the ship to 5-8 feet, aye, sir.

Pilot, submerge the ship to 5-8 feet.

Thevirginia class's sophisticated electronic periscope and sensors

allow crew members access to vital information.

They know exactly where they are

and, even more importantly,

they know the whereabouts of both friend and foe.

Maritime interdiction, gunnery,

missile testing, anti-submarine,

mine clearance, air defense, amphibious landing...

All demand coordinated planning

and much trial and error.

Advances in weapons systems seek to integrate international navies,

armies, and air forces into unified fighting units.

Advanced electronic warfare systems

can identify in detail friend from foe,

jam enemy assets, and provide an electronic shield

to cloak threatened friendly forces.

So clear switches hot. Cleared hot. Release on condition.

Lightning 7-3 kill. C-41.

Fuel 330, speed 2-4.

Confirm that the target is outside territorial waters.

Aye, sir. Stand by.

We're ready.

Take the... steady!

Ten seconds. Cleared to release.

Lightning 7-3, attack.

Twenty seconds. Master arm on. Arms armed.

Launch three.

Lightning 7-3 off safe.

One away. Man 2: Weapons cleared.

What was a gun battle one moment can,

in the blink of an eye, become a battle for survival of another kind.

For thousands of years, sailors have feared violent seas as much as the enemy.

What rimpac highlights is the very complicated missions

navies are asked to perform in the modern world.

Terrorism, piracy, earthquakes,

fires, hurricanes, humanitarian disasters.

Services that once jealously competed increasingly work together.

Navies, national guards, air forces,

coast guards, marines...

All of them are invited to practice their highly skilled crafts

during rim of the pacific.

November, zulu.

Not long ago, the game of war

was played with much higher stakes.

Sailors and airmen died in earnest and in large numbers.

Yesterday, December 7th, 1941,

United States of America was suddenly

and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces...

Following the bombing of Pearl harbor,

the Japanese gambled they could draw the American carriers

into a trap near the island of midway.

But the Americans secretly broke the Japanese code and were prepared.

Get the saws on these guys and see what's going on. Aye, sir.

American pilots, knowing they didn't have the fuel to make it back,

still gambled they could find the Japanese fleet.

And find them they did.

They sank three Japanese carriers in eight minutes.

By the end of the day, four Japanese carriers were sunk,

along with one heavy cruiser.

Three thousand Japanese crew members lost their lives.

The Americans lost only theyorktown.

Few of the us aircraft made it back to their ships.

It was a turning point in the pacific war,

sealing the Japanese fate.

The battle of midway remains the greatest victory

in American naval history.

War or not, landing a fighter aircraft on board a carrier remains

the most challenging and admired skill in all of aviation.

The landing safety officer's voice...

Always a fellow pilot... Provides a vital measure

of precision and confidence

at exactly the right moment.

327, two miles.

The new f-35b avoids the complexity

of a catapult and arrestor cables.

It can operate almost anywhere...

A strategic advantage in almost any kind of conflict.

Like all new weapon systems,

it seeks to provide a distinct advantage over possible enemies.

Indeed, the goal of modern navies

is to provide the most effective weapons, tactics,

and training as an overwhelming deterrence...

Avoiding at all costs the risk of real war.

Most captains will tell you that their passion

is to bring every crew member back home safely.

For they are young people who work long, hard,

dangerous hours, months at a time,

with little or no recognition.

They make these sacrifices for their families, communities, and nations.

Hi, mom. Hi, dad.

Hi, everyone back in Glen arm, Maryland,

a little town that most people have never heard of.

Shout out to the people back home in Texas.

Booyah.

Shout out to people in San Jose.

Stay warm, Michigan. Salt lake city, Utah.

Hi, mom.

Love you, Texas.

From great naval battles, civilizations Rose and fell.

Yet there is more firepower on board the ships of rimpac

than all the bombs used in all of the wars in human history.

The goal of modern navies is to avoid war at all cost,

for if there is another great war,

nothing will rise from the ashes, neither righteous nor evil.

There will be no romantic paintings, nor writers to celebrate the victory.

After 4,000 years of naval warfare,

we have little choice but to sail together,

work towards peace,

and all return home

safely to our families.