6 F-15K Aircraft Conduct Air Training in Australia

KC-330 Receives Aerial Refueling for 'Nonstop Flight'

The Air Force will participate in the multinational air exercise 'Pitch Black,' held at the Darwin base in Australia from the 12th of this month to the 2nd of next month.

According to the Air Force on the 8th, six F-15K fighter jets from our Air Force will take off from Daegu base on the 10th and fly for 7 hours and 30 minutes to arrive at the Darwin base in Australia, receiving aerial refueling five times from the KC-330 tanker. This is the first time our fighter jets have participated in a multinational air exercise held abroad without an intermediate stopover by receiving aerial refueling from the Air Force KC-330.

Our Air Force fighter jets also travel to the multinational air exercise 'Red Flag' held in Alaska, USA, biennially without intermediate stops, but they receive fuel from U.S. military tankers. Pitch Black is an exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force and has been held since 1981. The Republic of Korea Air Force first participated in 2022 with six KF-16 fighter jets, making this the second time.

This year's Pitch Black exercise will be the largest ever, with over 130 aircraft from 16 countries participating, including the U.S. Air Force's F-22, the Italian Air Force's F-35B, the French Air Force's Rafale, and the Indian Air Force's SU-30MKI. Notably, this year marks the first participation of the Philippine Air Force's FA-50PH in Pitch Black. The FA-50PH is a fighter jet produced based on the domestically developed FA-50, tailored to the Philippine Air Force's requirements. The participation of the FA-50PH in Pitch Black is the first case of a T-50 series aircraft taking part in a multinational joint exercise held in another country.