Airforces

Above: F-15SG serial 8302, assigned

to the RSAF’s 149 Squadron, launches

out of RAAF Base Darwin during the

morning wave of departures. This

year, the Republic of Singapore Air

Force deployed fi ve F-15SGs, six

F-16C/Ds, a KC-135R and a G550

CAEW to Pitch Black.

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

Pitch Black 2018

Exercise

Report

continue building the Growler

capability for the future.”

The other ‘new kid on the block’

was No 35 Squadron’s C-27J

Spartan battlefield airlifter, the

tenth and final example of which

was delivered in April this year.

Apart from LFE missions, the two

deployed C-27Js supported air-

land integration scenarios involving

the seizure of austere airstrips

by infiltrating forces and air-

dropping equipment and supplies.

Alongside these newer types, the

F/A-18A/B ‘classic’ Hornets of Nos

75 and 77 Squadrons soldiered

on for yet another Pitch Black.

The end is near for the venerable

‘classics’, which are planned for

withdrawal in December 2021. A

total of 25 have been earmarked

for transfer to Canada as part of

the gradual drawdown of the fleet.

The dark side

The nucleus of Red Air was

composed of the ‘classic’ Hornets

of the RAAF’s No 75 Squadron

and F/A-18Ds of Marine All-

Weather Fighter Attack Squadron

(VMFA[AW]-242) ‘Bats’ flying out of

Tindal. However, utilising frontline

jets and pilots as training aids in

scripted roles for the ‘good guys’

doesn’t add any training value

for their own crews. Hence, both

units also flew Blue Air while other

participants took turns performing

the adversarial mission in order to

maximise opportunities for everyone.

For the same reason, the use of

contracted Red Air was expanded

in Pitch Black 2018. In addition to

Learjets flown by contractors Air

Affairs and Raytheon, contracted

fast jets were incorporated in the

form of three Alpha Jets from

Flankers at Pitch Black

Above: An Indian Air Force Su-30MKI

fl ies off the wing of an RAAF No 75

Squadron F/A-18A. Commonwealth of

Australia Inset: Gp Capt Prem Anand

• callsign ‘Andy’ – is the commanding
  offi cer of No 102 Squadron ‘Trisonics’
  and led the Sukhoi detachment.

The participation of Indian Air Force (IAF)

Su-30MKIs in Pitch Black 2018 was the

second time that Russian fighters have

taken part in the exercise – the first was

in 2012 and involved four Su-27/30s

from the Indonesian Air Force. The IAF

deployed a similar number of Flankers,

drawing them from No 102 Squadron

‘Trisonics’ at Air Force Station (AFS)

Chabua, with a detachment augmented

by personnel from No 106 Squadron

‘Lynxes’ at AFS Tezpur.

Leading the Sukhoi

detachment was Gp

Capt Prem Anand –

callsign ‘Andy’ – the

commanding officer

of the ‘Trisonics’. He

said: “We had our

observers coming in

the previous exercise

two years back and thereafter decided

we should be participating.” The Indian

Flankers are not new to international

LFE missions – they participated in two

Red Flag exercises in 2008 and 2016.

The commanding officer of No 106

Squadron, Gp Capt R S Sodhi – aptly

assigned the callsign ‘Lynx 1’ – gave his

opinion as the IAF detachment exercise

co-ordinator: “Pitch Black provides

great exposure for our aircrew to fly

with various platforms of the

friendly air forces which are

not available in our part

of the world. Flying

out here in one of

the world’s largest

training airspaces

with minimal flight

restrictions has also

been great experience

for our aircrew. This is something

we have not been able to do at home,

with certain restrictions in place

over our large, populated areas.”

The IAF wasted no time in cementing

interoperability with the host,

qualifying the Su-30s to take fuel

from RAAF KC-30A tankers by day

two of the exercise through a series

of dry and wet refuels. Air-to-air

engagements were the focus of the

IAF Su-30s. Gp Capt Sodhi noted:

“We fly primarily Blue Air missions,

but we also do some Red Air work.”

Pitch Black, being an unclassified

exercise, sees its participants limit the

full potential of their fighting equipment.

However, according to both Anand and

Sodhi, the full air-to-air capability of

the N011M Bars radar was used in a

multinational exercise for the first time.

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