The Royal Thai Air Force has highlighted its participation in Pitch Black, one of the region's largest multinational air exercises, hosted by Australia in the Northern Territory.
In a social-media post dated 16 July, the Thai air force said the event was not open to every country and described its involvement as an opportunity to train alongside international partners at a recognised global-level exercise.
Pitch Black is hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force and has been held continuously since 1981. It is a large-force employment and air-defence exercise, bringing together air forces from partner countries for realistic missions involving offensive air operations and the defence of simulated targets.
Training from Darwin and Tindal
The exercise is based at Darwin and Tindal air bases, with operations conducted across training areas in Australia's Northern Territory and at the Delamere Air Weapons Range.
According to the Royal Thai Air Force, the scenarios are designed to test complex air-combat operations and improve the ability of participating forces to work together.
The air force said that when aircraft from several countries operate side by side, the purpose goes beyond flight training. It is intended to improve joint readiness, exchange knowledge, develop interoperability and strengthen security cooperation among partner nations.
Pitch Black is regarded as the Royal Australian Air Force's most important international air exercise. Its scale has drawn participants from around the world: the 2022 exercise involved 17 countries and more than 100 aircraft.
Such exercises allow participating air forces to practise communication, planning and coordination under demanding conditions, rather than operating independently. The Thai air force said this was intended to help friendly nations prepare jointly for future challenges.
Pictures courtesy of Amarin
The post did not specify the aircraft, personnel numbers or dates of Thailand's deployment for Pitch Black. It said only that the Royal Thai Air Force had been honoured to take part in the international exercise.
A long-running multinational exercise
Pitch Black has developed into a major forum for air forces to train in large, realistic formations. Its organisers use the vast training areas of northern Australia to simulate complex situations that would be difficult to reproduce in more restricted airspace.
Thailand's participation places the Royal Thai Air Force among the partner forces invited to deploy and train in those scenarios. The service said the exercise would support greater operational capability and closer security links between friendly countries.
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17 July 2026
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