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| Exercise Pitch Black Exercise 2022 Begins in Northern Territory, Australia |
Canberra - The Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, hosts the Pitch Black war game, a large-scale training exercise with 16 other countries including the United States, United Kingdom and France.
The exercise will include more than 100 fighter jets and thousands of personnel with combat scenarios conducted both day and night in the skies over Australia's Northern Territory, using the city of Darwin as a base. This exercise will run until September 8.
Australia's Department of Defense said in a statement that other countries participating in Exercise Pitch Black included Canada, Germany, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
"This year, significant efforts have been made to advance air-to-air refueling capabilities among the many participating nations," the exercise's commander, Air Commodore Tim Alsop, said in the statement. "Air-to-air refueling is a force multiplier, providing important range for our fighter aircraft. Working with the many participating countries aims to increase our power projection and maximize our capabilities," he added. 8/2022).
The exercise has traditionally been held in Darwin every two years since it began in 1981 but was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alsop noted that several countries were participating in Exercise Pitch Black for the first time.
"We welcome them to practice and the magnificent Northern Territory," said Alsop. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the country's national news agency, reported that India's Su-30s and Singapore's F-15s and F-16s will return for training this year while Germany and Britain's Eurofighter Typhoon and Japan's Mitsubishi F-2 debuted.
In her comments to the ABC, Alsop added that Pitch Black was strictly an exercise and was not meant to "against" any country despite rising tensions in the Asia Pacific region.
"This is not against anyone, but for many countries," he said. The RAAF will also host activities where members of the public can visit a base in Darwin to view high-tech aircraft as well as flyovers over the city's famous Mindil Beach.