Helicopters Take Center Stage as RIMPAC 2026 Expands Maritime Strike

During RIMPAC 2026’s SINKEX, allied rotorcraft—from US Army AH-64 Apaches to RNZN Seasprites, RAN MH-60Rs, and an Italian SH-101—fired anti-ship missiles (Spike NLOS, Penguin, Hellfire, Marte) at decommissioned ships, illustrating helicopters’ increasingly central role in distributed maritime strike and coalition anti-surface warfare; Spike NLOS’s ~20-mile range gives Apaches substantial stand-off against moving targets, complementing traditional air, sea, and land-based fires alongside LRASM and other assets in the exercise.