Hailed as Australia's largest air defense exercise ever, PITCH BLACK 96 featured some 4,000 military personnel and nearly 100 aircraft from three countries. Australian, Singaporean and U.S. Air Forces took part in PITCH BLACK, held 15 July2 August 1996 at three Royal Australian Air Force Bases (RAAFB). Playing host were RAAFBs Darwin and Tindal in Northern Australia and RAAFB Curtin in Western Australia.

The vast expanses of Australia's northern outback offered a perfect backdrop for PITCH BLACK's war games; war games designed to give aircrews realistic air combat experience in a joint/combined training environment. The Australians took the opportunity to test command and control of their aircraft and determine how well they could defend RAAFB Tindal and Delamere Range Facility from air and ground attacks.

U.S. pilots gleaned valuable facetoface dogfight experience flying against other fighters. "The Australians and Singaporeans are highlyskilled pilots," observed U.S. Air Force (USAF) Col. Jim Pugh, the Americans' PITCH BLACK Provisional Wing commander at RAAF Tindal.

The participation of Singaporean pilots added a new dimension to the formerly bilateral exercise, benefiting all three air forces. Lt. Chua Bee Khim, of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), said, "We really like to see how other countries' air forces operate and interact with each other." Lt. Chua and his fellow Singaporeans also enjoyed the chance to get away from the cramped air space at home and turn on full afterburners over such a large exercise area.

Gen. John Shalikashvili, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, reinforced the importance of PITCH BLACK during his visit to the exercise. He said, "Australia is a country that has stood with us through every major conflict in this century: the first and second world wars, the Korean War, Vietnam and DESERT STORM. And while our relationship is not about fighting wars - it's more about peace and stability - our participation in this exercise shows Australians our continued interest in this region."

The exercise's first week saw the Australian and Singapore Air Forces practicing Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) which gave pilots a chance to train with and against varying aircraft types. These early missions, which continued into the second week after the Americans' arrival, featured smaller packages such as two aircraft versus two others.

Gradually, force packages became larger, with more than 50 aircraft in the air at one time. During the exercise's final week, forces took part in a comprehensive air defense battle with missions flown day and night. The span of air combat roles included air interdiction (air strikes on ground targets) and air superiority (airtoair).

A diverse exercise, PITCH BLACK also included air base ground defense activity at RAAFBs Curtin and Tindal, requiring participants to divide their time between their primary roles of maintaining vital air operations and countering attacks by "enemy forces."

During the exercise, participants divided into "Blue" defending forces and "Orange" attacking forces. Blue forces operating from and defending Tindal included Australian and U.S. Marine Corps F/A18s, USAF F15s and the E3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft, and an RAAF B707 aerial refueler.

Darwinbased Orange forces included RAAF F/A18s, USAF Reserve B52s, U.S. Air National Guard F16s, and RSAF F16s and E2C AWACS. Curtin served as the remote home for additional Orange force units, including RSAF A4s and RAAF F111s. USAF KC10s provided aerial refueling for both sides.

Everyone was a winner in this exercise, according to Air Commodore Alan Titheridge, Commander, RAAF's Tactical Fighter Group. "The objective of this exercise is training; and the winner is the one who learns the most," said Air Commodore Titheridge, who was exercise director for the first half of PITCH BLACK.

One important lesson learned was properly identifying who's on whose side. "Generally, during the first 10 minutes of a war, the defender's friendorfoe devices and plans start to break down," said RAAF Sqdn. Ldr. Gavin Turnbull. "When this happens, you see flight engagements merging into visual fights, not (fights) that can be done from miles away with missiles. It's a big three dimensional puzzle, and it's never the same," added Sqdn. Ldr. Turnbull, who helps plan most Australian exercises involving fighters.

"The inclose fighting enlightened exercise participants on another problem, fratricide, also known as friendly fire. Because F/A18s were being used by both defenders and attackers, "we had a hard time trying to identify the good guys and bad guys," Sqdn. Ldr. Turnbull pointed out.

An asset that can help cope with that is an AWACS aircraft. PITCH BLACK 96 saw the first use of AWACS aircraft by both attacking and defending forces. In the past, many people thought AWACS was simply an air defense asset, noted Air Commodore Titheridge. However, "AWACS has a very important role in strike direction. If an offensive air package is coming in to strike a target with fighters running protection, then [the attackers] also need air defense information," stated the Air Commodore.

The use of the AWACS also enabled the RAAF to test a plan for future integration of AWACS into their overall air defense system. Australia's Minister for Defence, Ian McLachlan, took a first hand look at the AWACS while on board one of the exercise missions. The minister said he was impressed by the array of technology aboard the AWACS. He also related there was no doubt that an AWACS presence would benefit Australia's defense alert system when combined with the Jinadalee overthehorizon radar in central Australia.

AWACS presence at PITCH BLACK 96 contributed to the overall objective of developing interoperability between participating forces. RAAF Air Commodore Ray Perry, PITCH BLACK exercise director for the second half, said interoperability doesn't come overnight. But training, especially regular training, brings forces together quicker. "It takes a couple of weeks flying together to understand what each other's capabilities and limitations are. Once we get that sorted out, then we can fly and fight together," Air Commodore Perry concluded.