By SETH ROBSON STARS AND STRIPES
Australia’s largest international air combat exercise wrapped up Friday after three weeks of training that brought together 21 nations, 2,500 personnel and about 100 aircraft, including U.S., Australian and Japanese F-35 stealth fighters
The Australian air force described Pitch Black as its largest multinational air drills, built around complex, combat-like scenarios across vast areas of northern Australia
More than 250 U.S. airmen took part in the biennial exercise, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Nicole Leidholm, an exercise spokeswoman, said by email Thursday
She said the U.S. contingent included six F-35A Lightning IIs from the 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; two KC-135 Stratotankers from the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa; and a C-130J Super Hercules from the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Air Base, Japan
The training focused on large-force missions that integrated fighters with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, air mobility platforms and command-and-control elements, Australian Air Commodore Matthew McCormack, Pitch Black’s commander, said at the start of the drills
An F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, flies over Darwin, Australia, July 23, 2026, during the Pitch Black Exercise. (Peter Reft/U.S.Air Force)
Participants flew missions from Royal Australian Air Force Bases Darwin and Tindal in the Northern Territory and RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland, according to an Australian air force news release Friday
This year marked the first Pitch Black participation by Japanese F-35As and Indian military aircraft, the release said
American F-35s operated from Tindal, where members of Eielson’s 355th Fighter Squadron trained alongside the Australians, said Lt. Col. Christopher Severino, the U.S. detachment commander
“The first day of the exercise, we were able to work seamlessly together, and it just goes to show how closely our trainings align with each other,” he said by email Friday
Two U.S. pilots did a flyover at Mindil Beach in Darwin, he said
Airmen from Eielson’s 355th Aircraft Maintenance Unit worked alongside personnel from the Australian air force’s 75th Squadron and 17th Security Forces Detachment at Tindal, Tech Sgt. Colton Anglin, the team leader, said by email Friday
“They took very good care of my team,” he said of their Australian hosts
McCormack said the drills produced significant operational and networking gains
“Exercise Pitch Black brings together air forces from across the globe to plan together, fight together and learn together through realistic and complex training scenarios,” he said in Friday’s release
The exercise also drew large public crowds. More than 30,000 people attended an air show over Mindil Beach, and another 25,000 visited an open day at RAAF Base Darwin, according to the release
