Australia cancels premier multilateral air combat training exercise

Australia cancels premier multilateral air combat training exercise

Australia has informed India that their premier multilateral air combat training exercise Pitch Black 2020 scheduled from July 27 to August 14 has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation, defence sources said.  This was conveyed by Air Marshal Meg Hupfeld, Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), in a letter to Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, in mid-April.“The RAAF Chief informed of his decision to cancel the exercise this year due to the current and anticipated impacts of the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19,” a defence source told The Hindu.  He also noted that while the IAF was not participating with aircraft, Ex Pitch Black 2020 would have provided an opportunity for engagement between our personnel, the source said. The exercise is also an opportunity to interact with forces from across the globe, a second defence source said.  The next edition of Pitch Black is scheduled in 2022. In the last edition of Pitch Black in 2018, the IAF for the first time deployed fighter airc…