Chinese threat catalyses numerous air forces to defend freedoms in Indo-Pacific

Once upon a time, China was invited to large multilateral military exercises, with RIMPAC in Hawaii being an obvious example. However, China’s belligerent approach to regional territorial disputes has seen it banished from Western-led military exercises.

Nonetheless, China is “contributing” to such exercises in other ways, primarily by encouraging concerned nations to get together and train, so as to present a united front against Chinese aggressive behaviour.

This is being demonstrated in an air force exercise currently ongoing in Australia. Exercise Pitch Black 2024, held from July 12 to August 2, is the largest-ever exercise in the 43-year history of the exercise series. A total of 140+ aircraft and 4,435 personnel from 20 countries descended upon Australia, primarily at air bases in its Top End. The unprecedented scale of the exercise speaks of mounting alarm over Chinese intentions in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

The 20 countries contributing assets include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the UK and USA.

This list is notable, as it includes numerous countries that have a beef with Chinese territorial ambitions, either along its land border or in troubled maritime areas. This includes India, Japan and the Philippines, for instance, with the latter getting involved in Pitch Black for the very first time. Indeed, the Philippine presence with four FA-50PH light fighters is important, since it has never deployed its fledgling fighter force overseas before.

Colonel Randy M. Pascua, Contingent Commander of the Philippine Air Force, said, “For us, this is not a preparation for anything that is happening in our country. Our main purpose for being here is to develop our operational capability, focusing on the development of the skills of the fighter pilots, as well as the maintenance, which is necessary when we get the higher level of aircraft, which is the multirole fighter.”

His reference to the Philippines’ current competition to obtain new multirole fighters is relevant again to China’s threat. It could be argued that Manila’s desire for more capable fighters, which are destined for territorial defence, is a direct response to the threat that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) poses.

The other significant development in Pitch Black 2024 is a very heavy European involvement–France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK–as various countries on the far side of the globe express alarm at China’s stomping of international norms and regulations in places like the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, arteries through which global maritime trade passes en masse. This year, Italy and Spain were joining a Pitch Black exercise for the very first time.

Furthermore, Italy sent its aircraft carrier Cavour to the event as part of a wider five-month deployment around the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, three nations–France, Germany, and Spain–are conducting a hugely complex air force deployment called Pacific Skies. Aircraft from these three countries are progressively training in Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, Australia, and India.

The refrain from participating nations is almost identical–words such as partnership, interoperability, and shared values. As the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) Air Commodore Peter Robinson, Officer Commanding Exercise, put it, “We have brought like-minded nations that will come together and exercise together. We build capabilities together, we build friendships together, we build relationships together, and we leave the exercise much stronger as partners.”

Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Nickell, US Air Force (USAF) Pitch Black Detachment Commander, expressed similar sentiments: “Pitch Black is a great opportunity for us to exercise closely with our allies and partners to bolster our combined and joint capabilities. True integration takes understanding and trust. This is our opportunity to learn from each other and contribute to stability in the region through longstanding partnerships.”

Participants that ANI spoke to were at pains to point out that Pitch Black scenarios are not aimed at any single country, such as China, and that interoperability is instead the key aim. Of course, interoperability is vital, because allies must know how to operate together in peacetime, in case they are ever required to fight side by side.

Thus, it is true to a certain extent that Exercise Pitch Black 2024 is not aimed specifically at China, although it does send a message of unity. As Lieutenant Colonel Ty Bridge, Deputy Chief, Exercises Division of Headquarters, US Pacific Air Forces, told ANI, “There are other exercises that INDOPACOM has a focus both in our strategic messaging, our posture, and our combined joint warfighting.”

The USAF planner continued, “What Pitch Black allows us to be able to do is focus on the allies and partners, and the interoperability, and allow us to be able to plan in other venues and other times to be able to get at working with those other countries that are focusing on deterrence and a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Incidentally, this year is the first time that the USA dispatched F-22A Raptor fighters, the apex predators of the USAF, to Pitch Black. These fighters have flown to Australia before, but they have never formally been part of the exercise. The US is prioritising sending its most advanced aircraft to the Indo-Pacific region.

When ANI asked whether Pitch Black 2024 is directed against any country, Group Captain Gary Sadler of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), responded, “The simple answer is no, there isn’t a particular threat, if you like, that we’re trying to address. All of the countries get to be both blue and red [forces] in this scenario, because that’s where we get the maximum benefit for all of the countries and the combinations of different types of aircraft in the airspace at the same time. In terms of the strategic challenges around the globe at the moment, we certainly acknowledge those when we are talking about the activities that we’re trying to look out for in the exercise. And whilst they may have a broad shaping effect, there’s no specific activity within the exercise per se.”

Again emphasising the common refrain, Gr Cpt Sadler said it is “really around making sure that we can interoperate and cooperate in terms of safe and professional aviation operations”.

It is a huge logistical effort to run such a large, multinational exercise in Australia’s Northern Territory, and here again, the threat from China plays a role. Australia’s National Defence Strategy document, released in April, listed six priorities for the Australian Defence Force. Among them was improving the ability to operate from northern bases in Australia, “holding an adversary at risk farther from our shores,” and employing a strategy of denial.

The National Defence Strategy’s five other priorities for Australia are to: invest in nuclear-powered submarines; enhance long-range precision strike and manufacture munitions domestically; introduce disruptive, new technologies; grow the defence workforce; and deepen Indo-Pacific partnerships. These are all, either directly or indirectly, reactions to the growing threat from China’s communist leadership and its armed wing, the PLA.

The imperative to buttress northern Australia and the country’s maritime approaches is seen in major renovations and expansions of facilities at air bases such as Darwin and Tindal. At the latter, for instance, new aprons are being constructed to accommodate USAF B-52 bombers. In any conflict with China, northern Australia would play a vital role. Australia is also overhauling other remote air bases across the north so that they can be used in an expeditionary manner in case of contingencies.

France is Europe’s only “Pacific nation,” and its Ambassador to Australia, Pierre-Andre Imbert, said, “These air combat training exercises provide us with a great opportunity to develop interoperability between the latest-generation fighters (F-35, Rafale), so as to be ready for tomorrow’s high-intensity conflicts.”

Indeed, France is getting ready for conflict in the region. ANI understands that, last year, a deployment of Rafale fighters to New Caledonia saw the aircraft rehearsing countering a notional enemy attacking from the north. North is the direction that PLA forces would naturally take if they were planning to invade the South Pacific.

Numerous countries in the Asia-Pacific are getting ready in similar ways. No. 75 Squadron of the RAAF, for example, which flies the F-35A fighter from Tindal Air Base, is at the tip of the spear in terms of countering any threat from the north. It is emphasising readiness to counter any sudden threats from the likes of China.

Discussing Pitch Black 2024, Gp Cpt Sadler added: “Bringing all these countries together, it’s about the shared values that we have for security, stability, peace, and prosperity in the region for all participants. And I think this sort of activity reflects the commitment to transparency, to make sure that everybody is fully aware of what we’re trying to achieve and how we’re going about it.”

As this loose coalition of nations builds, major powers like the USA are keen to broaden the base and deepen relationships. As Lt Col Bridge of the USAF explained: “Well, it reflects the mutual trust and respect, in my opinion, and the intent for everyone to be able to come together and focus on air tactics regardless of policy or politics that may be out there. It has been extremely impressive to be able to see the variety of different aircrews and the professionalism they have…”

With 20 countries coming together like this, it also underscores China’s own very limited circle of friends. Apart from counterterrorism-type exercises conducted under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), PLA international exercises tend to be bilateral, partnering with the likes of Cambodia, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Thailand.

The Pentagon said in its most recent report on the PLA that Beijing will “continue to expand the PLA’s global military presence through humanitarian assistance, naval escorts and port calls, peacekeeping operations, arm sales, influence operations, and bilateral and multilateral military exercises. Through these engagements, Beijing can strengthen and expand its diplomatic relationships to advance its foreign policy goals, to include shaping the international system to align with the PRC’s interests, gaining operational experience for the PLA, and attracting foreign interest in hosting PLA bases and dual-use installations abroad.”

The US annual report added, “Beijing often relies on senior military visits, bilateral and multilateral exercises and training, peacekeeping, and military assistance to promote the PRC’s foreign policy objectives.”

In July, China was working militarily with Russia in a naval exercise called Joint Sea-2024 in waters near Zhanjiang in the south of China. Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defence, said: “The ongoing exercise is to demonstrate the resolve and capabilities of the two sides in jointly addressing maritime security threats and preserving global and regional peace and stability.”