Preparing a capacity to deploy, in a short time, a large number of men and vehicles in areas far from Italy. This is the new challenge of the Indo-Pacific air campaign for the women and men of the Italian Air Force.
Darwin, Thursday 11 July 2024. The international exercise PITCH BLACK 2024 organized by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) starts tomorrow. The Italian Air Force participates, for the first time, in the training activity, on the Darwin air base, from 12 July to 2 August 2024. At the end of Pitch Black 2024, Italian Air Force aircraft and personnel will move to Misawa (Japan) with the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) for joining to Rising Sun 2024.
As part of the Italian Air Force’s Indo-Pacific air campaign, joint training with the Italian Navy is also planned through the embarkation of two Air Force F-35Bs on the Cavour aircraft carrier, as part of a major organisational effort to the entire defence sector. The Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, Gen. S.A. Luca Goretti underlined, during a meeting with all the personnel of the Indo-Pacific 2024 campaign, the importance of the activity as a “new challenge, within the strategy that the Aeronautica Militare has developed over the last few years, to strengthen its logistical projection capabilities and be able to move, in a short time, from one point of the Earth to another, when needed, to support the operational component of the Italian Air Force. The Indo-Pacific area is part of this project which has already seen redeployments recently, in Japan with the F-35s and in Alaska, for the Red Flag exercise. Now we are going to Australia for Pitch Black 2024, together with our Italian Navy colleagues, in the sign of a strong friendship and collaboration that has now lasted for some years, and then to Japan for the Rising Sun 2024: and we do all this while always remaining able to ensure and maintain both national and NATO commitments. The Defense sector is making a substantial leap in quality and you are proof of this.”
Pitch Black 2024 is one of the most complex and realistic military air exercises in the Indo-Pacific region. Organized by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), it involves a total of 20 nations (Italy, Australia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, USA, Brunei, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand).
The participation of the Aeronautica Militare, for the first time, in the Indo-Pacific air campaign allows to train the ability to deploy, in a short time, a large number of men and vehicles (Large Force Element) and demonstrate, through effective adherence logistics, to be able to operate producing significant effects even at long distances from Italy, to protect national interests.
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