NEW DELHI: The fighters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) joining the ongoing exercise Pitch Black 2022 in Australia with the fighters and personnel of 17 other countries is part of military diplomacy aimed at strengthening relations and exchanging the best practices.
The IAF on Friday said, “An IAF contingent has reached Australia to participate in Exercise Pitch Black 2022 scheduled to be held from 19 August 22 to 08 September 22 in Darwin.” In this biennial, multinational exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) over 100 aircrafts and 2,500 personnel from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, the UAE, Singapore, Thailand, the US and the UK are participating in the exercise. The forces from “Quad” nations are together to exercise again. Quad is an informal grouping of India, Japan, the US and Australia.
As per the IAF the contingent, led by Group Captain YPS Negi, will be focusing on Large Force Employment warfare and comprises over 100 air warriors, deployed with four Su-30 MKI fighters and two C-17 aircraft. “They will undertake multi-domain air combat missions in a complex environment and will exchange best practices with the participating air forces,” said the air force.
Interestingly, the frequency of exercise in the recent months has been more with the militaries in the Indo Pacific, including those in the South China Sea, as the attention on ‘Indo-Pacific’ envisaging a union between the Indian and Pacific oceans increases.
The IAF’s frontline Sukhoi fighters concluded a bilateral exercise with the Royal Malaysian Air Force named ‘Udarashakti’ which the Indian said will “augment security in the region.” On the four-day exercise various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces was done.