Overview
- The Royal Australian Air Force concluded Exercise Pitch Black 26 on August 7, 2026, after three weeks that involved about 2,500 personnel, roughly 100 aircraft and 21 partner nations.
- India’s Rafale and Japan’s F-35A made their first appearances in the exercise, giving pilots a chance to operate those jets in high‑tempo, low‑visibility multinational missions.
- An Australian KC-30A tanker refuelled Indian Rafales for the first time during the drill, showing that fighters can link with foreign tankers using the hose‑and‑drogue method to extend range and sustain operations.
- Airborne early warning platforms — notably Australia’s E-7A working with Japan’s E-2D and ground control units — used shared data links to build a common battlespace picture for coalition missions.
- Finland and Sweden attended for the first time to observe fighter integration and sustainment; the exercise also drew strong public interest with more than 30,000 at the Mindil Beach display and 25,500 at an RAAF Darwin open day.