France & Germany fighter jets reach Indo-Pacific region for Pitch Black 2022 exercise

France and Germany have sent fighter jets to participate in the “Pitch Black 2022” biennial multinational exercise across the Indo-Pacific region hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force in one of the largest peace deployments that also include the Indian Air Force. The European Air Forces will conduct drills with the military forces of the UK, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea in Australia’s Northern Territory. The exercises began on August 19 and will continue through September 9.

“We want to demonstrate that we can be in Asia within a day,” the chief of the German Air Force, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz told Defense news.

The 13 German fighter aircraft will hold joint exercises in Australia as tensions remain at an all-time high with China. The “Pitch Black” exercise will feature nearly 100 fighter jets and 2,500 personnel from across 17 nations. During the exercise, the UK’s RAF contingent will join European NATO Allies from France and Germany to exercise with Royal Australian Air Force aircraft and also aircraft from regional powers such as India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore and others. 

Australian soldiers, Gunners Blake Bartuccio and Fiaz Jafary (l-r) from 16th Air Land Regiment, operate from Bradshaw Field Training Area, Northern Territory, during Exercise Pitch Black 18. Credit: Corporal Glen McCarthy/Defence Australia

Royal Air Force’s Typhoons from 6 Squadron flew from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus and were Air-to-Air refuelled en-route by an RAF Voyager tanker which also carried support aviators and equipment. Their 8600 nautical mile journey involved overnight stops in the United Arab Emirates, India and Singapore. 

A SU-30MKI Flanker aircraft took off from RAAF Base Darwin during Exercise Pitch Black 18. Credit: Defence Australia

“Of course, our current focus is clearly directed towards the east,” German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht told DW referring to Russia. But we must also direct our attention toward other regions,” she continued referring to Indo-Pacific region. 

At least six Eurofighter jets took off from a base in Neuberg an der Donau, in the southeastern German state of Bavaria. Three A330 tankers and four A400M transporters also flew out from Cologne at a gap of 30 minutes. German pilots will conduct nearly 200 mid-air refuelling manoeuvres, including detours to Japan and South Korea, the country’s air force chief Ingo Gerhartz said. 

French Air Force contingent makes stopover in India

Separately, France has flown out fighter jets from the territory of New Caledonia. The French Air Force contingent made a technical stopover in India to achieve this unprecedented 16,600-km deployment. “France is a resident power of the Indo-Pacific, and this ambitious long-distance air power projection demonstrates our commitment to the region and our partners,” Emmanuel Lenain, the French ambassador to India said. 

Credit: Frace Armee_de_lair/twitter

Last year in August, a German frigate, Bayern, sailed into the Indo-Pacific region for the first time in 20 years. During its voyage to Asia, it docked in at least 11 countries including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore but was denied a port call by China. 

Berlin’s “Indo-Pacific” guideline paper that was adopted in September 2020 by the then chancellor Angela Merkel outlined Europe’s security engagement in the [Indo-Pacific] region in order to “help strengthen the rules-based international order.” The German Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to the Indo-Pacific during Europe’s first Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum which was held on February 22, just days ahead of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The German Air Force general reiterated that the exercise will not pose any ‘threat’ to China and that it will “barely touch” the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait. Germany was not “sending any threatening message towards China by flying to an exercise in Australia” he insisted. 

“The South China Sea, Taiwan – these are obviously the sticking points in the region,” German Air Force generalleutnant said. “We will fly at an altitude of more than 10 kilometers and barely touch the South China Sea, and we will move on international routes.”