Rafale fighter jets (Photo: IAF)
New Delhi: Indian Air Force’s Rafale fighter jets will participate in a multination exercise ‘Pitch Black’ 2026, being hosted by Australia from July 20, wherein a total of 19 countries are participating with over 100 aircraft.
The exercise will culminate on August 7, the Australian Defence Ministry said, adding it would “strengthen regional and global interoperability”.
“This is the Royal Australian Air Force’s biggest international exercise featuring complex, combat-like scenarios across one of the largest military training areas in the world,” it said.
Military personnel from India, the US, Japan, Brunei, Canada, Fiji, Finland, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the UK would also be participating, it said.
What is Exercise Pitch Black?
Held every two years, the exercise ‘Pitch Black’ focuses on large force employment missions involving large numbers of international aircraft.
Exercise Pitch Black provides an environment for training and integration that directly supports international participants training requirements, and their ability to support operations in the Indo-Pacific.
At the individual level, the exercise builds strong relationships between aviators and personnel from across the Indo-Pacific region, and further abroad in Europe.
It recognises Australia’s strong relationships with other nations, and reinforces the value placed on regional security and fostering closer ties throughout the Indo-Pacific region and around the world.
Australian Air Force has a long history of conducting air exercises in the Northern Territory, including the High-series of exercises in the 1960s and the Top-series in the early 1970s.
Many of these involved integration with the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Exercise Pitch Black was first held from RAAF Base Williamtown in New South Wales 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.
Exercise Pitch Black was held at RAAF Base Darwin for the first time over 9-13 May 1983. It included RAAF Mirage III fighters and F-111C strike jets as well as international participation from the United States Air Force. It was the first major RAAF exercise to be conducted in Darwin after Cyclone Tracy hit the city in 1974.
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