The state is about to get a multi-million dollar boost in the arm over the next six weeks.
Rim of the Pacific 2010 is underway, with navy personnel from more than a dozen countries in Hawaii.
Don't be alarmed if you see more Navy ships at Pearl Harbor, a lot more.
Warships and cruise ships share little in common, except for the fact that they both carry lots of people.
"Over 20,000 personnel that will be part of the exercise. And so the numbers we have from 2008 was that it was an impact of over $44 million, just to the local economy, just from those people coming out here," said Capt. Paul McKeon of the U.S. Navy.
Giving our tourism economy a major boost, and not just in the coming month.
"Now having said that we think that there is an even a longer term impact that you have these people coming to Hawaii for the first time, getting a chance to experience the island and meet the people. They will take that message back to their country," said Captain McKeon
Here's the break down for the numbers for this year's RIMPAC:
-14 countries are involved
-34 Ships
-5 Submarines
-150 aircraft
"In submarine warfare, air defense, underwater salvage, quite a few missions that will be covered. And what we see is the world has so many different threats out there in the maritime environment.," said Captain McKeon.
Including natural disasters which can be devastating.
"And what is so important in that kind of mission is it happens almost out of the blue. So our forces have to be ready to operate very quickly and come together to do the missions. We don't have a lot of preparation times when it comes to natural disasters," said Captain McKeon.
RIMPAC originated back in 1971. This year marks the 22nd exercise, and the theme for RIMPAC 2010 is, "Combined agility, synergy and support."
