In first, Australian exercise Pitch Black gets dedicated aircraft carrier

MELBOURNE, Australia — Air forces from around the world will descend on Australia’s remote Northern Territory this month for a combat exercise of unprecedented scale there.

The Pitch Black exercise is the latest in a biennial series that began 43 years ago as a unilateral drill, before becoming a joint Australia-U.S. training event in 1983. Since then it has grown in step with the increasing geopolitical importance of the Indo-Pacific region.

The three-week exercise will run July 12-Aug. 2. This year, Pitch Black will see 20 nations taking part. Of these, 16 are contributing combat jets to the exercise, which will see more than 140 aircraft and over 4,000 personnel participate.

The actively participating nations this year are Australia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, Brunei, Canada, Fiji and New Zealand will have personnel embedded in the exercise.

Countries attending this series for the first time include Italy, Spain, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. And in a first for the exercise itself, an aircraft carrier will dedicate its time to the event, in the form of the Italian Navy’s ITS Cavour.

A pan-European force made up of the French, German and Spanish air forces is deploying first to Alaska under an overarching deployment effort, dubbed Pacific Skies , before making its way into the Pacific. Under that umbrella operation, those nations will participate in the Alaska-based exercise Arctic Defender, then continue into the Pacific where they will join the Rim of the Pacific drills off Hawaii, the exercise Nippon Skies in Japan, Pitch Black in Australia, and Tarang Shakti drills in India.

The strong European presence in the Indo-Pacific comes amid regional tension, as noted in the Australian government’s National Defence Strategy released in April .

“Entrenched and increasing strategic competition between the United States (US) and China is a primary feature of our security environment,” the document stated. “It is being accompanied by an unprecedented conventional and non-conventional military build-up in our region, taking place without strategic reassurance or transparency .”

Royal Australian Air Force F-35A jets and South Korean Air Force KF-16U Fighting Falcon aircraft conduct air-to-air refueling with an Australian KC-30A tanker during the 2022 exercise Pitch Black. (South Korean Air Force)

Commenting on the Pacific Skies deployment, the chief of staff of Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, said the goal is to increase operational capability, strengthen military cooperation with countries in the Indo-Pacific, and demonstrate air power and dedication to the region.

“By participating in Pacific Skies 24, we as Europeans are showing presence in a part of the world that is of great importance to us all,” Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said.

Air Commodore Pete Robinson, who commands the Royal Australian Air Force’s Air Combat Group and will lead Pitch Black, told Defense News the events are an opportunity for the country’s NATO partners “to validate true global reach and build interoperability in the region.”

“The quality of training we can provide down here and the air space we have, the weapons ranges we have, and the engagements we have forged across multiple nations is a shining example of how we build interoperability amongst our air forces — and more importantly it’s how we build our partnerships across countries,” Robinson added. “Exercise Pitch Black demonstrates the value of sustaining stability across the region.”

The goals are similar to those of Asian air forces, with a spokesperson for the Japan Air-Self Defense Force saying its participation will contribute to a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region.

“The purpose [of the Japan Air-Self Defense Force’s involvement) is to improve the tactical skills of participating units, enhance interoperability with the RAAF and U.S. forces, and deepen mutual understanding with the participating countries in [a] practical environment,” the spokesperson said.

Nigel Pittaway is the Australia correspondent for Defense News.

澳大利亚墨尔本——本月，来自世界各地的空军将齐聚澳大利亚偏远的北部地区，进行一场规模空前的作战演习。

“漆黑行动”演习是每两年举行一次的系列演习中的最新一次。该系列演习始于43年前，最初是单边演习，后于1983年成为澳大利亚和美国联合训练活动。自那时起，随着印太地区地缘政治重要性的日益增强，该演习的规模也随之扩大。

为期三周的“漆黑行动”演习将于7月12日至8月2日举行。今年将有20个国家参加“漆黑行动”。其中，16个国家将派出战斗机参演，预计将有超过140架飞机和4000多名人员参与。

今年积极参与演习的国家包括澳大利亚、法国、德国、印度、印度尼西亚、意大利、日本、马来西亚、巴布亚新几内亚、菲律宾、新加坡、韩国、西班牙、泰国、英国和美国。此外，文莱、加拿大、斐济和新西兰也将派人员参与演习。

首次参加该系列演习的国家包括意大利、西班牙、巴布亚新几内亚和菲律宾。此外，意大利海军的“加富尔”号航空母舰也将首次专门参与此次演习，这在演习历史上尚属首次。

由法国、德国和西班牙空军组成的泛欧洲联合部队首先部署到阿拉斯加，这是代号为“太平洋天空”的总体部署行动的一部分，之后将进入太平洋地区。在这一统筹行动下，这些国家将参加在阿拉斯加举行的“北极卫士”联合军演，随后继续前往太平洋，参加在夏威夷附近海域举行的“环太平洋”联合军演、在日本举行的“日本天空”联合军演、在澳大利亚举行的“漆黑行动”以及在印度举行的“塔朗沙克蒂”联合军演。

正如澳大利亚政府在 4 月份发布的《国防战略》中所指出的那样，欧洲在印太地区的强大存在正值地区紧张局势加剧之际。

文件指出：“中美之间根深蒂固且日益加剧的战略竞争是我们安全环境的主要特征。与此同时，我们地区正经历着前所未有的常规和非常规军事集结，而这一切都缺乏战略保证和透明度。”

在2022年“漆黑”联合军演期间，澳大利亚皇家空军的F-35A战斗机和韩国空军的KF-16U“战隼”战斗机与澳大利亚KC-30A加油机进行空中加油。（韩国空军）

德国空军总参谋长在评论“太平洋天空”部署时表示，其目标是提高作战能力，加强与印太地区国家的军事合作，并展示空军力量和对该地区的奉献精神。

“通过参加‘太平洋天空 24’演习，我们欧洲人正在向世界一个对我们所有人来说都非常重要的地区展示我们的存在，”英戈·格哈茨中将说道。

指挥澳大利亚皇家空军空战群并将领导“漆黑行动”的空军准将皮特·罗宾逊告诉《防务新闻》，这些活动为该国的北约伙伴提供了一个“验证真正的全球影响力并在该地区建立互操作性”的机会。

罗宾逊补充道：“我们在这里能够提供的训练质量、我们拥有的空域、武器靶场，以及我们与多个国家建立的合作关系，都充分展现了我们如何构建空军间的互操作性——更重要的是，它展现了我们如何构建跨国伙伴关系。‘漆黑行动’演习体现了维护地区稳定的重要性。”

这些目标与亚洲各国空军的目标相似，日本航空自卫队的一位发言人表示，日本的参与将有助于建立一个“自由开放”的印太地区。

发言人表示：“日本航空自卫队参与此次演习的目的是提高参演部队的战术技能，增强与澳大利亚皇家空军和美国军队的互操作性，并在实际环境中加深与参演国的相互了解。”

Nigel Pittaway 是《国防新闻》驻澳大利亚记者。