While fighter aircraft dominated the skies during Exercise Pitch Black, air-to-air refuelling aircraft kept air power in the fight across northern Australia.
Serving as the exercise’s main tanker hub, RAAF Base Amberley hosted Australian and international refuelling aircraft and personnel during RAAF’s international biennial air combat exercise.
Task Unit Headquarters 640.5.3 Commander Group Captain Michael Rouhan said RAAF Base Amberley played a pivotal role in the exercise, demonstrating the ability of multinational air-to-air refuelling aircraft to project air power by extending the range and endurance of aircraft training across Australia’s vast northern Australia.
“Alongside our partner nations’ aircraft, these refuellers flew nine sorties a day and a total of 108 sorties during the exercise,” Group Captain Rouhan said.
“Each sortie involved a return trip from RAAF Amberley up to the NT and back again, totalling approximately 5500 kilometres. If you add up the number of kilometres flown by all the sorties then it would be equivalent to circumnavigating the globe 15 times.
“For the RAAF’s KC-30A crews and their international counterparts, Pitch Black 26 was more than an opportunity to practise refuelling procedures – it was a chance to strengthen [the] relationships and trust that underpin coalition operations.
“Every successful contact between a refueller and a receiving aircraft represented more than just fuel transferred – it demonstrated compatibility, professionalism and confidence between partner nations.”
‘If you add up the number of kilometres flown by all the sorties then it would be equivalent to circumnavigating the globe 15 times.’
Based out of RAAF Base Amberley, RAAF’s KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) worked alongside United States Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers, a Spanish Air and Space Force Airbus A330 MRTT, a Royal Air Force KC-30 Voyager MRTT aircraft and a Multinational MRTT aircraft operated by the Multinational MRTT Unit based in Eindhoven in The Netherlands.
Pitch Black 26 was the first time the Spanish Air and Space Force Airbus A330 MRTT has participated in Pitch Black, with the aircraft only coming into service with the Spanish Air and Space Force in 2025.
“Successful air-to-air refuelling operations depend on teamwork on the ground as well as in the air,” Group Captain Rouhan said.
“Behind every successful refuelling mission is a team of dedicated personnel on the ground whose expertise keeps these vital aircraft in the air supporting the fight.
“From flight planning, aircraft maintenance, logistics to catering, RAAF Amberley support personnel ensure each refuelling aircraft is ready to launch on schedule, providing a critical capability that underpins every phase of the exercise.”
