PANAMA PACIFICO, Panama (Aug. 3, 2026) – Panama is set to host participants from 18 partner nations, including the United States, for the PANAMAX 2026 exercise Aug. 3-13, 2026. PANAMAX 2026 will provide participating nations an opportunity to conduct combined security and stability operations to enhance their joint-operations capabilities. The field-training exercise will focus on a coalition response to a notional scenario and will leverage a holistic, integrated approach against simulated threats to the Panama Canal and the region.
Participating nations will include Panama, Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, the United Kingdom and the United States. The scope of nations represented in this year’s exercise reflects a collective recognition of the importance of the Panama Canal as a vital maritime waterway and the ever-increasing collaborative partnership between public security and defense forces in the region.
Panama will be the exercise host, and the United States will co-lead the four force components. Alongside their U.S. counterparts, Argentina will co-lead the special operations forces component, Chile will co-lead the maritime component, Colombia will co-lead the air component, and Peru will co-lead the ground component.
This year marks the first time in 14 years that PANAMAX is conducted as a live multinational exercise in Panama as well as a command post exercise, both in Panama and the U.S.
For updated information about PANAMAX 2026, visit the PANAMAX 2026 DVIDS page at www.dvidshub.net/feature/Panamax26 and the U.S. Southern Command website at www.southcom.mil, or contact U.S. Southern Command by email at southcom.miami.sc-cc.list.cmd-public-affairs@mail.mil.