The eighth iteration of the biennial exercise was conducted from Aug. 6 to 15 off Kauai and around the Pacific Missile Range Facility. U.S. 3rd Fleet executed the exercise with MDA support and forces from Australia, Chile, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Spain and the United States.
“Pacific Dragon 2026 demonstrates the strength of our alliance and partnerships and our shared commitment to advancing integrated air and missile defense capabilities across the region,” said Vice Adm. Marc Miguez, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet. “Through this exercise our forces are strengthening interoperability, improving information sharing, and refining the tactics and procedures necessary to operate together in support of regional security and a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Pacific Dragon combined multilateral ballistic missile defense operations with tactical data-link information sharing between participating forces. This year’s exercise also included multi-mission events that brought ballistic missile defense and broader integrated air and missile defense scenarios into the same operational environment.
Participating forces conducted simulated ballistic target-tracking events designed to exercise and improve each nation’s integrated air and missile defense capabilities. MDA used the exercise to gather live-tracking data, validate sensor performance and further refine Aegis BMD in a realistic multi-domain environment.
The U.S. Navy contribution included USS Jack H. Lucas, the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. The ship is equipped with Baseline 10 and the AN/SPY-6 radar, representing the Navy’s latest generation of integrated air and missile defense capability.
Allied warships included Australia’s Hobart-class destroyer HMAS Sydney, Japan’s Kongō-class JS Kongo and South Korea’s Sejong the Great-class ROKS Jeongjo the Great. Chile deployed Almirante Cochrane, Italy contributed ITS Giovanni delle Bande Nere and Spain participated with Álvaro de Bazán, with Chile and Spain joining Pacific Dragon for the first time.
The Royal Australian Air Force also deployed an E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft. U.S. aviation assets included P-8A Poseidon aircraft, F/A-18 Hornets, MQ-9 Reapers and BQM-177A Sub-Sonic Aerial Targets.
The exercise included both in-port and underway phases, with shore activities covering interoperability preparation and training through the Pacific Integrated Air and Missile Defense Center. At sea, participating forces applied those procedures during coordinated BMD and IAMD events.
MDA has participated in Pacific Dragon since its inception and uses the exercise to develop regional ballistic missile defenses and Maritime Theater Missile Defense capabilities with partner nations. The 2026 iteration expanded that work by connecting allied ships, aircraft, sensors and tactical data links in a shared missile defense environment.
