Updated 18 August 2024

Exercise Pitch Black 2024

Every two years, Australia hosts a tactical exercise for fast jets from around the world. This event, called Exercise Pitch Black, was held mostly in Darwin and Tindal in the Northern Territory this year. The 2024 iteration of the military training exercise occurred from 12 July till 2 August, and King Arthur’s Writes was in attendance following a twelve-year gap after its previous visit.

Exercise Pitch Black 2024 involved 20 countries, of which 16 contributed aircraft – Australia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the UK and USA. Furthermore, Brunei, Canada, Fiji and New Zealand contributed either personnel or observers but no aircraft. In total, more than 130 fighters took part in this impressively sized exercise, the largest ever Pitch Black. In fact, the exercise reached such a scale that there was no ramp space left at RAAF Bases Darwin and Tindal to accommodate air-to-air refuellers, so these had to be based mostly at RAAF Base Amberley near Brisbane.

A first for the exercise was participation of an aircraft carrier, in the form of Cavour from the Italian Navy. Unfortunately, King Arthur’s Writes visit to the carrier was scrubbed because an Italian Eurofighter crashed on the same day, causing all aircraft to be grounded. Fortunately, the pilot was unharmed after successfully ejecting. Europe’s presence was notable, with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK sending sizeable aircraft contingents all the way around the world. Yet another first for the exercise was participation of six F-22A Raptors of the USAF.