The arrival of Philippine Air Force aircraft to Exercise Pitch Black marks the first time the Philippines has deployed air assets to an international exercise outside of their own country.
Touching down into RAAF Base Darwin on July 10, four FA-50PH Fighting Eagle aircraft joined the remainder of the contingent preparing for the exercise.
Philippine Air Force Detachment Commander Colonel Randy Pascua was on the tarmac to greet the fighter jets’ arrival, marking an important milestone for one of Australia’s key Indo-Pacific partners.
“We have highly skilled fighter pilots and we want to enhance our operational procedures and also validate those procedures with our counterparts to enhance our operational readiness,” Colonel Pascua said.
“We have our own expertise and aircraft with different capabilities and, training alongside the collective capabilities on Exercise Pitch Black, we can enhance our own operations and those of our counterparts.”
Pitch Black Officer Commanding Exercise Air Commodore Peter Robinson said the exercise was important for building professional working relationships with regional and global partnerships, contributing to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region.
“As we go through the exercise, it’s an opportunity for us to learn from each other and leave the exercise stronger than when we started,” Air Commodore Robinson said.
“The big thing that we’ll take away is a strong friendship with the Philippines and exercises like this will continue to strengthen that. We’ll walk away with a stronger partnership together.”
The Philippines will join 19 other nations in the exercise, which aims to strengthening relationships and enhance interoperability with overseas partners.
Pitch Black 2024 is the largest in the exercise’s 43-year history, bringing together over 140 aircraft and approximately 4400 personnel from around the world.
