A large tri-national force comprising 23 aircraft from the air forces of France, Germany, and Spain will be transiting to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Subang, from Aug 5-6.
This trilateral deployment, dubbed Pacific Skies 2024, follows the three-week deployment to this year’s edition of Exercise Pitch Black 2024, in Darwin, Australia.
Pacific Skies 2024 is a combined deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French Air and Space Force (Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace), the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and the Spanish Air and Space Force (Ejército del Aire y del Espacio) have partnered in a number of exercises throughout the region.
A statement issued by the French Embassy in Malaysia said that the combined deployment in the region this year was consistent with the EU Strategy in the Indo-Pacific area of operations (dated 2021).
France, Germany, and Spain are some of the leading nations in the European Union Common Security and Defence Policy.
The statement added that the ability to deploy together, as well as the interoperability between the three nations and their regional partners are at the core of this deployment.
Twentytwo13 has learnt that the ‘package’ of assets that are scheduled to arrive include 12 fighters (nine Eurofighter Typhoons – five German and four Spanish – and three French Dassault Rafales), five A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transports (MRTTs), and six A400M Atlas military transport aircraft.
This marks the latest deployment in a series of large-force employment exercises undertaken by the three countries. Prior to Exercise Pitch Black, the Luftwaffe led a major combined air exercise in Alaska, dubbed Arctic Defender.
Soon after that was the multinational air exercise Pitch Black ‘24 in Australia. Next on the calendar is Tarang Shakti, the first multinational air exercise organised by the Indian Air Force.
Pacific Skies 2024 is to demonstrate the readiness and capabilities of the three nations and their regional partners, strengthen cooperation and partnership, and engaging in joint, high-intensity exercises, while supporting a free, stable and open Indo-Pacific in compliance with international law, the statement added.
Main image: A Dassault Rafale | Image by Dassault Aviation
