RSAF F-16Ds and F-15SGs at RAAF Base Darwin during a previous Pitch Black exercise. Photo: ADF.
For the next three weeks, Australia will host Exercise Pitch Black, when air forces from around the world will participate in a series of intense combat exercises.
One hundred aircraft and 2500 personnel from the Royal Australian Air Force and 20 other nations will take part in training activities in the skies over the Top End from 20 July to 7 August.
Aircraft from the United States, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Republic of Korea, India, Singapore, Germany, France and Spain, as well as embedded personnel from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada, Brunei, Malaysia, Finland and Sweden, will all take part.
The Prime Minister said that by working with international partners, Australia can develop the RAAF’s capabilities and strengthen the nation’s security.
“Australia is strongest when we work closely with our partners,” Mr Albanese said from Darwin.
“Exercise Pitch Black strengthens those partnerships and demonstrates Australia’s commitment to working closely across our region to support peace, stability and security.”
The PM said the biennial exercise offered an opportunity to strengthen relationships among Australia’s partners and allies by “building interoperability through realistic, high-end training” from RAAF Bases Darwin and Tindal in the Northern Territory, and RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland.
Exercise Pitch Black has been hosted in Darwin every two years for more than four decades and is a large-scale training activity involving the RAAF and allied countries.
This year’s exercise sees embedded aviators from Finland and Sweden for the first time.
Also for the first time, Japan’s F-35 Lightning II and Indonesia’s T-50I Golden Eagle jets have been sent to join the combat exercises.
This year’s manoeuvres are taking place following the heightened regional tension created by China’s recent firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean.
Exercise Commander, Air Commodore Matthew McCormack, said the “collective training activity” is where the participating nations “plan together, fight together and learn together” through realistic and complex training scenarios.
“This year’s exercise will build upon the lessons forged from 2024 and remains a sought-after activity by our partners due to the enormous military training airspace,” he said.
“The exercise is a crucial means for the Air Force to meet the objectives of the National Defence Strategy. It strengthens relationships among our partners and allies through integration and demonstrates our shared commitment to a peaceful and prosperous region.”
Exercise Pitch Black 2026 marks the end of a high-tempo flying period across northern Australia, including Exercises Diamond Storm and Southern Cross.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said Exercise Pitch Black was one of the Indo-Pacific’s most complex and significant air exercises, with a 45-year history.
“Through this exercise, our Air Force is showcasing Australia’s ability to bring together partners from the region and beyond to enhance interoperability and deepen defence cooperation,” Mr Marles said.
Exercise Pitch Black was first held from RAAF Base Williamtown in NSW in June 1981 as a 3-day air defence exercise with ‘attacking’ aircraft flying from RAAF Bases Amberley and Richmond.
It was held there again in July 1982, before moving to the RAAF Base Darwin for the first time in 1983.
Since then, with the exception of 1986 and 2002, Exercise Pitch Black has been conducted in the Northern Territory and has been held biennially since 1988, except in 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.
The name Pitch Black refers to the exercise’s emphasis on night-time flying manoeuvres.
The community in Darwin will have a chance to see first-hand what Pitch Black is all about at the upcoming Mindil Beach Flying Display later this week, and at the RAAF Base Darwin open day on 1 August.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
