Exercise Pitch Black 2022 concludes in Australia

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) concludes its Exercise Pitch Black 2022 today.

During the exercise the RAAF participated in a wide range of military drills with the air forces of other allied nations and defense partners. This year’s event became the largest edition as several countries took part for the first time. The exercise is organized biennially to strengthen close ties with regional powers in the Indo-Pacific region.

This year’s exercise took place following high-level tensions in the Pacific after Chinese forces held military exercises violating Taiwan’s airspace to demonstrate against Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. The Western exercises were most likely meant to demonstrate their collaborative defense framework in the region and restrain Beijing’s increasing military presence. Expect the exercise to serve as a step for the US and its allies to strengthen its military position in the Indo-Pacific to counter Beijing. In this framework, the US could send additional aircraft carriers to the region. While the US aims to construct and Asia-Pacific version of NATO during the long-term, this will further agitate China, potentially prompting conflict over Taiwan.