Exercise Pitch Black is the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) most significant flying activity for strengthening international engagement and enhancing our ability to work with overseas partners.

Held every two years, Exercise Pitch Black focuses on large force employment missions involving large numbers of international aircraft.

The exercise ensures Air Force is responsive whenever the Australian Government requires. It allows Australia to contribute to the sovereign security of participating nations, ensuring they too are ready to respond to contingency operations.

Exercise Pitch Black provides an environment for training and integration that directly supports international participants training requirements, and their ability to support operations in the Indo-Pacific.

At the individual level, the exercise builds strong relationships between aviators and personnel from across the Indo-Pacific region, and further abroad in Europe.

It recognises Australia’s strong relationships with other nations, and reinforces the value placed on regional security and fostering closer ties throughout the Indo-Pacific region and around the world.

The exercise will also support a concurrent International Observer Group program in order to provide an opportunity for foreign forces to gain an appreciation of how Australia prepares for, and executes major activities.

For media wishing to be kept informed or attend activities, please contact: PB.media@defence.gov.au.

History

Air Force has a long history of conducting air exercises in the Northern Territory, including the High-series of exercises in the 1960s and the Top-series in the early 1970s. Many of these involved integration with the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Exercise Pitch Black was first held from RAAF Base Williamtown in New South Wales in June 1981 as a 3-day air defence exercise with ‘attacking’ aircraft flying from RAAF Bases Amberley and Richmond. It was held there again in July 1982.

The name ‘Pitch Black’ is believed to refer to the emphasis on night-time flying over large unpopulated areas during these early exercises, although the exercise was not conducted on moonless nights as some have suggested.

Exercise Pitch Black was held at RAAF Base Darwin for the first time over 9–13 May 1983. It included RAAF Mirage III fighters and F-111C strike jets as well as international participation from the United States Air Force. It was the first major RAAF exercise to be conducted in Darwin after Cyclone Tracy hit the city in 1974.

Since then, with the exception of 1986 and 2002, Exercise Pitch Black has been conducted in the Northern Territory. It has been held biennially since 1988 with the exception of 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the exercise’s history, more than 20 nations have travelled to Australia to participate along with two international contingents (NATO and Multinational MRTT Unit).

Community engagement

Air Force values its relationship with local communities and appreciates the support they provide during essential military training.

Exercise Pitch Black and the Northern Territory have been linked for 41 years and build on relationships and practices that extend back further still.

During the planning for Exercise Pitch Black, engagement occurs with local and state governments, communities and businesses, Indigenous representatives, graziers and schools.