On July 15, Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) F/A-18D Hornet strike fighters from No. 18 Squadron ‘The Mighty Hornets’ launched the first of many sorties as part of Exercise Pitch Black 2024.
The sortie, a ‘Force Integration Training’ (FIT) ‘hop’, entailed a Dissimilar Basic Fighter Manoeuvres (DBFM) mission with a flight of Boeing AV-8B Harrier II Plus aircraft, operated by the Italian Navy. The mission was part of a series of work-ups to familiarise the multinational force in large-force employment, and to enhance interoperability between aircrews from different nations.
Yesterday, the Hornets took part in a Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) exercise with a flight of Saab JAS-39 Gripens from the Royal Thai Air Force, and a Basic Fighter Manoeuvres (BFM) sortie with the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) fifth-generation, Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters.
Pitch Black is the largest international air exercise in the Southern Hemisphere, held every two years in Darwin, Australia. This edition is from July 12 till Aug 2.
“Pitch Black ‘24 is the largest in the exercise’s 43-year history and brings together 20 participating nations, more than 140 aircraft from around the world, and 4,435 personnel,” said Eva Lawler, Chief Minister of Australia’s Northern Territory.
For three weeks, aircrews from nations like Germany, Canada, South Korea, the United Kingdom, India, France, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines will launch from RAAF Tindal, Darwin, and Amberley air bases, and conduct a broad spectrum of missions to hone their warfighting skills. This marks the RMAF’s fourth participation in the exercise, the first being in 2008.
The training is essential in streamlining operations and procedures among the different air forces. Aircrews are split up into ‘Red Force’ and ‘Blue Force’. Red Force takes on the role of the adversary, while the Blue Force are the good guys.
Taskings include Air Combat Manoeuvring (ACM), Defensive Counter-Air (DCA), Offensive Counter-Air (OCA), Close Air Support (CAS), Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD), Destruction of Enemy Air Defences (DEAD), interdiction/strike, Basic Fighter Manoeuvres (BFM), Air Combat Tactics with emphasis on Beyond Visual Range (BVR) fights, Large Force Employment, Integrated Air Operations, and Air-to-Air Refuelling.
Depending on the tasking, every sortie will be preceded by an extensive mission planning briefing, outlining the mission objectives, the target profile, and defensive positions – including simulated surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites, anti-aircraft artillery (or triple As), and possible airborne threats.
Each sortie is carefully recorded using a combination of an ACMI (Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation) pod carried on board each aircraft, and sensors on the TACTS (Tactical Aircrew Combat Training Systems) range, using telemetry. The electronic ‘picture’ is used in the post-mission debriefs to assess the flight crews’ performance.
On July 8, RMAF chief, General Tan Sri Mohd Asghar Khan Goriman Khan, was on hand to send off the detachment of 37 officers and 66 enlisted to Australia. The detachment – in three Hornet strike fighters and an Airbus A400M tactical airlifter – left their base at RMAF Butterworth, and arrived at RAAF Darwin the next day.
On July 12, the assembled multinational crews attended the official opening ceremony at the Darwin Convention Centre, by the Administrator of the Northern Territory, the Honourable Hugh Heggie.
Also present were Officer Commanding Exercise, Air Commodore Peter Robinson; Exercise Director, Group Captain Stewart Seeney; Director Engagement, Group Captain Peter Wood, and CO of 13 Squadron, Wing Commander Lauren Guest.
A Mass Air Brief was then held for the aircrews, giving an overview of the safety, security, facilities, operations and airspace management requirements throughout the exercise.
“Pitch Black’s importance and relevance has grown, especially in the context of the increased militarisation in the hotly-contested South China Sea,” said a former RMAF fighter pilot who was involved in the exercise a few years ago.
“We’re fortunate in a sense, because of our strategic location. Also, because of our foreign policy, we benefit from a lot of ‘trade’. A lot of air forces want to come and train with us,” he added.
Nations like France, the UK, India, the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand periodically conduct air exercises with the RMAF. The US Navy conducts what it calls ‘PassExs’ each time a carrier strike group transits the South China Sea on its way to Singapore, Australia, or the Indian Ocean.
“PassExs are ‘ad hoc’ exercises. If they’re in the neighbourhood, they give us a call and invite us to play,” he quipped.
“It’s good in maintaining our combat proficiency. Keeps us sharp.”
Among the more significant exercises conducted by the RMAF are the Cope Taufan series with the United States Air Force, the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), Air Thamal with Thailand, and Elang Malindo with Indonesia.
A geopolitical analyst said the RMAF’s participation in Pitch Black and other exercises is indicative of the world we now find ourselves in.
“Globally, things are hotting up. The Russo-Ukrainian war, the genocide in Gaza, the tensions in the Korean peninsula, the militarisation of the South China Sea, the overlapping claims there, China’s hegemony, especially with regard to Taiwan which it considers a rogue province… all this makes it a dangerous world.
“Pitch Black and other exercises are critical in maintaining the RMAF’s ability to plan and conduct sustained air operations, integrate, and work with other air forces, get the latest info on weapons and tactics, and more importantly, establish a close working relationship with its partners,” he said.
He added that despite the budgetary constraints, the RMAF has been maintaining a “high readiness and operational tempo”. Twentytwo13 recently learnt that the RMAF is embarking on an aggressive and accelerated force modernisation exercise to address the ‘capability gap’.
The RMAF also plans to acquire an undisclosed number of ex-Kuwaiti Air Force (KAF) F/A-18C/Ds from the Middle Eastern country, as soon as the deliveries of the 28 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets it has on order, are completed. The RMAF plans to bolster the number of eight Hornet Ds it currently has on strength with the ex-KAF stocks of ‘legacy’ Hornets.
