REForPAC 2025 Assembles High-Powered Allied Air Forces in the Pacific
REForPAC 2025 mobilizes a powerful multinational air team across the Pacific, enhancing Indo-Pacific readiness and interoperability.
Global Airpower Concentrated in the Indo-Pacific
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam — The Reinforcing the Pacific (REForPAC) 2025 exercise is underway, bringing together one of the largest international coalition air teams to ever operate simultaneously across the Indo-Pacific. With a focus on enhancing combat readiness, joint force integration, and operational synchronization, REForPAC stands as a significant demonstration of allied commitment to regional security.
Led by the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), this year’s iteration includes participation from Japan, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and other key regional allies. The exercise spans multiple forward-operating bases, emphasizing agile combat employment (ACE), logistics under contested conditions, and high-tempo sortie generation.
A Real-World Rehearsal for Multinational Operations
This exercise allows us to validate our ability to rapidly deploy and integrate forces with our allies across the theater. It’s a real-world rehearsal for real-world threats.
Brig. Gen. Matthew Bartlett, 36th Wing Commander
The REForPAC framework aligns closely with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, reinforcing the necessity of forward-postured forces capable of responding swiftly to emergent crises.
Key Objectives: Interoperability and Resilience
Participating aircrews are operating platforms ranging from F-35A Lightning IIs and F-15E Strike Eagles to KC-135 Stratotankers and C-130J Super Hercules. The inclusion of multirole and ISR assets highlights a focus on integrated deterrence and persistent situational awareness.
- Seamless data-sharing using advanced tactical datalinks (Link 16 and MADL)
- Decentralized mission command to simulate communications-degraded environments
- Airbase resilience drills simulating cyber and kinetic attacks
Agile Combat Operations Across the Pacific
REForPAC 2025 occurs against the backdrop of rising regional tensions — notably with China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and North Korea’s evolving missile threats. In this context, the exercise serves as both a deterrent signal and a message of solidarity among Indo-Pacific democracies.
It also complements broader multinational frameworks like the AUKUS partnership and NATO’s Indo-Pacific outreach. Observers from the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and India were also present, suggesting a possible expansion of future REForPAC iterations.
Further Reading
- REForPAC 2025 Official Article (USAF)
- U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy (White House)
- Defense News – Indo-Pacific
- Multinational Air Operations: Strategic Overview (RAND)
