Pitch Black

Exercise Pitch Black is an Australian Air Force operation held in Darwin every two years – when COVID doesn't shut down the world. About 100 aircraft and 2500 crew have flown in this year from 16 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, UAE, US and UK.

The aim? 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.

Translated: We can all have fun playing war games together in the enormous empty skies above Northern Australia, with very few people to complain / worry about below ... and let's score a few geopolitical points at the same time.

It's a big event for Darwin. For the last few weeks, we've been reading about Pitch Black in the NT News, hearing very noisy aircraft and seeing groups of clean-cut, camo-wearing young people around town.

In recompense for noisy evenings, the RAAF put on two days for the public.

• On Thursday evening, for 75 minutes (exactly), a parade of super-loud / super-fast machines entertained Darwin in a flypast and handling display. I went to Mindil Beach to watch it. I’ve put the list of aircraft that participated at the end of this post, if you’re interested.

• On Saturday I went to the RAAF Base Open Day in Winnellie, together with what felt like the whole of Darwin. I shall draw a veil over the lengthy, hot wait for the bus shuttle from the parking area to the air base; suffice to say that once I got there, red-faced and sweaty, it was jolly interesting.

Photographs of flying planes are even more difficult than photos of birds, particularly when you’re shooting directly into the sun, but I persevered.

Say g'day to the MV-22 Osprey, a stalwart of the US Marine Corps. It’s a tilt-rotor aircraft with vertical take-off and landing, like a helicopter, but it can carry lots of troops. Here’s the Osprey entertaining the beach crowd as well as parked on the air base.

Fashion notes: Isn't it a bit ironic that people in camouflage stick out so much?

The UK and Germany brought their big refuelling planes Down Under. This is what these multinational, multi-role tanker transports (MRTTs) – modified A330s – look like on the ground ...

... and here they are, accompanied by fighter jets in the air. The MRTT with two planes is from the UK; the MRTT with four planes, from Germany. One of the aims of Pitch Black is to ‘increase interoperability’ between nations. There's nothing more interoperable than being able to nuzzle up to the fuel-mothership. Or is that nozzle up?

I have learned that fighter planes (a) all have pointy noses and (b) are all rather petite. They're like little buzzy, sting-y gnats. Here's the Sukhoi that is flown by the Indian air force – oh dear, a Russian-built plane. Not that its provenance deterred the many locals who wanted their photos taken with the Sukhoi and with the Indian visitors.

I was intrigued by two of the images on the German Luftwaffe Typhoon. First, the interesting tail design: the map showing the route from Germany to Australia. The young German chap told me that it's a sticker that will stay on the plane for 12 months, showing its most recent international operation. After 12 months, it'll be removed and replaced with something else. Second, the Iron Cross. I thought that it was verboten since WW2 but it appears that it's still used on defence vehicles. It's no longer used as a medal though.

The Koreans were noteworthy for the most engaging announcer at Mindil Beach, their willingness to accommodate photo ops and the best kiddie-PR at the air field. With those amazing dress-ups, guess what these kids want to be when they grow up?

Here are a few more pointy-noses from Japan, the UK, Indonesia and France.

I’m never going to remember the difference between the types of fighters. To my annoyance not all planes on display at the air base had information signs. I asked a group of Singaporean youngsters what one type of plane was and they told me kindly that it was a French Rafale. Then they added, slightly apologetically, that it wasn’t theirs … their fighter was further down the runway. Here are the lovely Singaporean boys and their own Eagle.

And finally, this is the Aussie F-35, on the ground. We hear these frequently overhead. The flypast ended with a handling display, where the pilot took the jet through some interesting moves like flying horizontally at an angle of 30 degrees and zooming straight up into the sky. Not my best videos ever (that sun!) but put on your sunglasses, turn up your sound and enjoy.

Pitch Black 2022 flypast and handling display, Mindil Beach

Participating aircraft

1. French Air and Space Force - CN-235

2. United States Marine Corps - MV-22 Osprey

3. Royal Air Force - KC-30 Voyager Multi-Role Tanker Transport; Eurofighter Typhoon

4. Japan Air Self-Defense Force - Mitsubishi F-2

5. German Air Force (Luftwaffe) - A330 MRTT; Eurofighter Typhoon

6. Royal Australian Air Force - EA-18G Growler

7. Indonesian Air Force - F-16 Fighting Falcon

8. United States Marine Corps - F-35B Lightning II

9. French Air and Space Force - Multi-Role Tanker Transport; Dassault Rafale

10. Republic of Singapore Air Force - F-16 Fighting Falcon

11. Republic of Singapore Air Force - F-15SG Eagle

12. United States Air Force - F-15C Eagle

13. Republic of Korea Air Force - KF-16U

14. Indian Air Force Sukhoi - SU-30MKI

15. Royal Australian Air Force - F-35A Lightning II

16. Royal Australian Air Force - F-35A Lightning II (Handling display)