Amid tensions in the South China Sea, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) is strategically enhancing its capabilities as part of the nation’s military modernization. A key step was its participation in the recent Australia-led Pitch Black exercise, marking the PAF’s first overseas air asset deployment.
The engagement underscores Manila’s commitment to regional security and interoperability with Allies and Partners. As the PAF advances its ambitious Flight Plan 2040, the insights gained from such multinational exercises are vital to bolster its airpower and security role in Southeast Asia.
Pitch Black, from July 12 to August 2, was the largest in the exercise’s 43-year history, involving more than 140 aircraft and 4,400 personnel from 20 nations.
“Participating in Pitch Black 2024 [allowed] us to enhance our operational readiness and fosters camaraderie with our international counterparts,” Col. Randy Pascua, the PAF’s contingent commander, said in a statement. “The experience and knowledge gained here are invaluable to our mission of maintaining peace and security in the region.”
The PAF deployed four South Korean-built FA-50 light fighters, its transition aircraft as it prepares for the acquisition of multirole fighters. Pitch Black represents another step toward Flight Plan 2040, which envisions the PAF as an “agile Air Force adaptable to modern warfare and responsive to national and regional security and development.”
“This is a venue for PAF’s rehearsal of their future assets as it projects to become an air power in the region,” Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, told FORUM.
The exercise also was “an opportunity to benchmark with the technological advancements of other participants for the integration of the AFP’s [Armed Forces of the Philippines] platforms and weapon systems,” he said.
International cooperation, meanwhile, is important “to elevate confidence-building mechanisms for allies and strategic partners to strengthen their resolve for collective deterrence.”
The AFP’s modernization is driven by factors including the People’s Republic of China’s aggression in the South China Sea, a communist insurgency and natural disasters. The PAF has been upgrading its surveillance and firepower capabilities in recent years, with the acquisition of multirole fighters a priority.
Cabalza said the PAF’s rebuilding and restructuring also requires enhancing “the depot-level maintenance systems and aerodrome requirements” to achieve the desired agility, modernity and interoperability.
“The interconnection of base operations and readiness should be orchestrated to the vision of more capable and credible airpower, programmed with a robust multirole aircraft fleet,” he said.
