India To Send Jets For Exercise ‘Pitch Black’ in Australia

Jun 02, 2018,

NEW DELHI: New Delhi may have rebuffed Australia’s request that it be allowed to take part in the annual trilateral Malabar naval war games that India holds with the US and Japan, but will be dispatching four Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets and a C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlift aircraft to the country to participate in the multilateral “Pitch Black” air combat exercise.

Exercise Pitch Black

“Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial three week multi-national large force employment exercise conducted from RAAF Base Darwin and RAAF Base Tindal.

Exercises such as Pitch Black are pivotal to ensuring Air Force remains ready to respond whenever the Australian Government requires. The training and integration of forces that occurs during this exercise directly supports Air Force’s ability to conduct operations.

Exercise Pitch Black features a range of realistic, simulated threats which can be found in a modern battle-space environment and is an opportunity to test and improve our force integration, utilising one of the largest training airspace areas in the world — Bradshaw Field Training Area and Delamere Air Weapons Range.

The exercise typically hosts up to 2500 personnel and over 100 aircraft from around the globe including participants from Australia, Canada, France (New Caledonia), Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and the United States. 

Activities such as Exercise Pitch Black recognises the strong relationship Australia has with its participant nations and the high value it places on regional security and fostering closer ties throughout the Asia Pacific region.”

India’s Participation

This will be India’s first appearance in the Pitch Black exercise hosted by Australia once every two years, usually including the US, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand, among other countries.

The exercise, which will witness participation by over 100 aircraft, will be held at the Royal Australian Air Force bases at Tindal and Darwin from July 27 to August 17 this year. It will be IAF’s third multilateral exercise in the last three years, after the Red Flag exercise in the US in April-May 2016 and the Blue Flag wargames at Israel in November 2017.

“With a range of realistic threats that can be found in modern-day air warfare, Pitch Black is the biggest air combat exercise in the southern hemisphere. Australia had first invited the IAF for the exercise in 2016 but that did not work out. This time, it’s all systems go,” said an official.

India and Australia, with their expanding strategic ties, already hold a joint naval exercise called AUSINDEX, the first edition of which was held off Visakhapatnam in 2015 and the second off Fremantle in 2017.

As earlier reported by TOI, India has for now opposed the inclusion of Australia in the trilateral Malabar exercise. Warships, submarines and aircraft from India, the US and Japan are all set to kick off another edition of the top-notch Malabar exercise off Guam in the Western Pacific from June 6 to 15.

China, incidentally, had lodged a strong protest against the Malabar exercise in the Bay of Bengal in 2007 when it had been expanded to include Australia and Singapore as well.

Source: TOI