CANBERRA – Air Force pilots from 16 nations, including the UnitedStates and India, have converged in the northern Australian city of Darwinin one of Asia-Pacific’s largest air force training exercises. Australia ishosting 4,000 personnel and 140 aircraft over the next three weeks as airforces from around the world take part in Exercise Pitch Black.
An IAF contingent landed at the Darwin Air Force Base in Australia onTuesday to participate in the training exercise. The Indian contingentcomprised of four Su 30 MKI fighter jets one C-130 and one C-17 transporteraircraft, the IAF said in a statement. This is the first time that the IAFis taking part in the biennial ‘Pitch Black’ air combat exercise hosted bythe Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), slated to take place from July 27 toAugust 17.
According to a Reuters report, the training includes night flying andaerial refuelling and enables different nations a chance to learn from eachother and improve their force integration using one of the largest trainingairspace areas in the world. The biennial Pitch Black exercise began in1990 between Australia and Singapore and features a range of realistic,simulated threats which can be found in a modern battle-space environment,the Royal Australian Air Force said in a statement.
Besides India and hosts Australia, air forces from the United States,Canada, France, Germany Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia,Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand and New Zealand aretaking part in the exercise.