NEW DELHI: India’s frontline Rafale fighters will make their 'Exercise Pitch Black' debut in Australia from Monday, training with and against fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighters in one of the Indo-Pacific’s largest multinational air combat exercises.
Hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) at Darwin, Tindal and Amberley, the nearly three-week biennial exercise will bring together almost 100 aircraft and over 2,500 personnel from 20 countries.
It also marks the IAF’s first deployment of Rafales to Pitch Black after fielding Su-30MKI fighters in the 2018, 2022 and 2024 editions.
Pitch Black will also feature Australia’s F-35A stealth fighters, while Japan is deploying its F-35s for the first time. Indonesia’s T-50i Golden Eagle jets will also make their debut at the exercise.
The wargames revolve around large-force employment, with multinational strike packages flying offensive and defensive counter-air missions, much of it at night.
For the IAF, the long trans-Pacific deployment will also test its strategic reach and ability to sustain fighter operations far from home bases, while sharpening interoperability with air forces operating a mix of fourth, 4.5 and fifth-generation fighters.
The deployment also comes as the Rafale is set to become the backbone of the IAF’s fighter fleet. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in February cleared the proposal to acquire 114 more Rafales under the Rs 3.25 lakh crore Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme, with 18 jets to be delivered in fly-away condition and the remainder to be manufactured in India.
Separately, India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in April last year to acquire 26 Rafale-Marine fighters for the Navy’s aircraft carriers. Together with the proposed MRFA acquisition, India’s planned Rafale fleet would rise to 176 aircraft.
The deployment comes amid an increasingly contested strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific, where India, Australia, the US and Japan, members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), have steadily deepened military cooperation.
India and Australia, in particular, have expanded defence engagement under their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, operationalising the Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement and stepping up cooperation through engagements ranging from the Malabar naval exercise with Quad partners to the bilateral AUSINDEX naval exercise and AUSTRA HIND army drills.
"Exercise Pitch Black 2026 is Air Force’s largest collective training activity with our partners and allies. It’s where we plan together, fight together and learn together through realistic and complex training scenarios," Exercise Commander Air Commodore Matthew McCormack said in a statement issued by the Australian Department of Defence on Thursday.
"The exercise strengthens relationships among our partners and allies through integration, and demonstrates our shared commitment to a peaceful and prosperous region," he added.
Aircraft from the US, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea will participate alongside India and host Australia, while personnel from New Zealand, Canada, Fiji, Brunei, Malaysia, Finland and Sweden will join the exercise in embedded roles.
Hosted in Darwin since 1983, Exercise Pitch Black caps a high-tempo flying season across northern Australia, following Exercises Diamond Storm and Southern Cross.
