Airforces

70 // OCTOBER 2018 #367 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Exercise

Report Pitch Black 2018

or much of August,

Territorians – as the

residents of Australia’s

Northern Territory are known

• experienced the thunderous
  reverberations of fast jets. During
  the three weeks from July 27
  to August 17, the skies over
  the region played host to the
  southern hemisphere’s largest
  air combat manoeuvres and

the Royal Australian Air Force’s

(RAAF’s) premier exercise.

Named after the inky nights in

the Outback, this year’s Exercise

Pitch Black was the biggest and

most complex yet. Some 4,000

personnel from 16 nations were

involved, nine of which contributed

a total of around 140 aircraft.

These comprised host Australia,

exercise regulars Singapore,

Thailand and the United States,

plus Canada, France, Indonesia,

Malaysia and newcomer India.

Pitch Black evolution

Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-

Marshal (AVM) Steve Roberton,

who was participating in his 12th

Pitch Black since the 1990s,

described how the event has

developed over the years: “In the

1990s, Pitch Black was focused

on dogfighting and basic fighter

pilot core skills with our United

States and Singaporean partners.

The exercise today has grown in

the number of partner nations and

has evolved into one that is highly

integrated and representative

of what the RAAF is conducting

in real-world operations.”

AVM Roberton added: “In 2014,

it was only weeks after Pitch Black

that we were involved in combat

operations in the Middle East, with

some of that year’s participating

nations. The relationships we build

at Pitch Black are fundamental to

how we operate with our regional

partners around the globe.”

Outback action

The majority of aircraft and

units staged out of RAAF Base

Darwin, while Tindal – about 186

miles (300km) south – hosted

the rest; both aerodromes were

at peak capacity. Adopting a

graduated approach, participants

were introduced to the exercise

with familiarisation flights and

relatively simple missions in

week one’s force integration

training. The exercise gained

in complex ity in weeks two and

three with larger packages and

heightened threat scenarios.

As can be expected in a

multinational large force

employment (LFE) exercise, Blue

Air was tasked with offensive

counter-air (OCA) missions while

Red Air attempted to harass

Widely credited as the

Royal Australian Air

Force’s most important

exercise, the biennial

Pitch Black was this

year its largest and most

complex to date. Roy

Choo visits the ‘Top

End’ to find out more.

F

TOP END

Above: An Australian Army soldier protects Batchelor Airfi eld in the Northern

Territory as a C-27J aircraft takes off. Making its Pitch Black debut, the C-27J

was operated in austere environments, supporting insertion of special forces to

capture airfi elds and establish forward operating bases. Commonwealth of Australia

OF THE GAME

70-73 PitchBlack AFM Oct2018.indd 70 9/10/2018 10:26:20 AM