A fighter jets has crashed in the Northern Territory during Exercise Pitch Black.
Exercise Pitch Black 24 is the Royal Australian Air Force’s biennial capstone international engagement exercise, with forces drawn from a wide range of regional, coalition, and allied nations. Held from 12 July to 2 August 2024, the exercise is concentrated on military airspace in the Northern Territory, with participants flying from RAAF Bases Darwin, Tindal, Amberley, Curtin, and regional airfields in the Kimberley region. Exercise Pitch Black 24 is the largest iteration of the exercise since first held in 1981, with 20 participating nations and over 140 aircraft involved, and approximately 4400 personnel from Australia and overseas participating. Activities such as Exercise Pitch Black help Australia to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, build connections around the globe, bolster regional security, and build regional resilience to transnational threats.