Exercise Pitch Black 2018 - The Passing Parade

Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial three week multi-national large force employment exercise conducted from RAAF Base Darwin and RAAF Base Tindal. Exercise Pitch Black 2018 was held from 27 July to 17 August 2018. 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 hosts up to 4000 personnel and up to 140 aircraft from around the globe including participants from Australia, Canada, France (New Caledonia), Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, India, Malaysia and the United States and will include day and night flying. 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. Aviation Spotters Online was fortunate to have been granted access during the exercise and given the opportunity to witness a morning departure of participating aircraft in the exercise from RAAF Base Darwin. Aircraft featured in this video- Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI Flanker - 102 Squadron ’Trisonics’ Lockheed-Martin C-130J-30 Hercules - 87 Squadron ‘Raiding Raptors’ Armée De L’ Air Dassault Rafale B - 4e Escadre de chasse Etr 3/4 Aquitaine, 1/4 Gascogne Republic of Singapore Air Force Boeing F-15SG Strike Eagle - 149th Squadron ‘Fighting Shikras’ Boeing F-15SG Strike Eagle -142nd Squadron ‘Gryphons’ General Dynamics F-16C Falcon -143 Squadron ‘Phoenix’ General Dynamics F-16D Falcon -140 Squadron ‘Osprey’ Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker - 112 Squadron Gulfstream G550 AEW - 111 Squadron ‘ Vigilance in control’ Royal Malaysian Air Force (Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia) McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D Hornet- 18 Squadron ‘Mighty Hornets’ Airbus A400M - 22 Squadron ‘The strong and the bold’ Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU) General Dynamics F-16C Falcon- 3 Squadron Royal Thai Air Force SAAB JAS-39C/D Gripen - 701 Squadron ‘The ferocious sharks of the Andaman’ Royal Australian Air Force McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B Hornet- 77 Squadron Boeing EA-18G Growler -6 Squadron Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet - 1 Squadron Airbus KC-30A MRTT - 33 Squadron Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules- 37 Squadron Alenia C-27J Spartan - 35 Squadron Lockheed AP-3C Orion - 10 Squadron Boeing C-17A Globemaster III- 36 Squadron Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing 757-2K2 - 40 Squadron United States Air Force General Dynamics F-16C Falcon- 80th Fighter Squadron ‘Headhunters’ United States Marine Corps Bell-Boeing MV-22B Osprey - VMM-268 Red Dragons More aircraft that where involved with Exercise Pitch Black 2018 where located at RAAF Tindal, or other locations that aren’t shown in this vision.