One of the benefits of operating a common aircraft type is the natural interoperability it can realise. However, during Exercise Pitch Black 2026 – and Exercise Southern Cross preceding it – the Royal Australian Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the US Air Force took this a step further, demonstrating F-35 interchangeability.
All three services had deployed F-35A Lightning II fighters to the Northern Territory, joining those already based at RAAF Tindal, near Katherine, with 75 Squadron.
During the back-to-back exercises, US pilots flew Australian jets, Australian technicians serviced Japanese jets and personnel from all three countries worked closely together to deliver a common airpower outcome.
“We’re executing what we call Lightning X, where we continuing to build momentum with our interoperability and interchangeability, explained 75 Sqn Commanding Officer Matthew Deveson during Pitch Black 2026.
“So, we have US aircrew flying our aircraft. Australians aren’t currently flying US aircraft at this moment, but we’re on the road to doing that.”
Colonel Joseph Gilpin, Commander of the US Air Force’s 354th Maintenance Group at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska and Deployed Forces Component Commander for the US contingent at Tindal during Pitch Black 2026 spoke with ADM to highlight the value of working closely with his Australian and Japanese allies.
“It’s a great opportunity to increase our skills – some of that cross-servicing that we talked about. We have two USAF pilots flying Australian aircraft, so it’s a great opportunity to build and strengthen our alliances in partnership,” he explained.
“We like to say that you can’t surge relationships in a crisis, and so you have to have that foundational relationship built and the teaming that is important along the way ensures that when a crisis hits, we’ve already established relationships.
“You can’t establish a relationship with a new partner in a moment of crisis and expect everything to work well. So, when we do have to work together as a coalition force, it’s not the first time we’ve met each other, integrated with each other or worked with each other.”
While US pilots were flying Australian jets, RAAF pilots are currently unable to fly American F-35s but, according to both WGCDR Deveson and COL Gilpin, this is a work in progress and could potentially lead also to cross-crewing with JASDF F-35As.
“We’ve managed to put two USAF pilots into Australian jets, we’re working through some nuances to reciprocate that option; we’re dealing with some programmatic type things that we’re working through – not only with the Australians but with the JASDF,” COL Gilpin detailed.
While this process was not expected to be completed by the end of Pitch Black 2026, COL Gilpin said that the outcome will be to the benefit of both the USAF and RAAF.
“I think it’s going to take a little longer, based on some of the nuances and the programmatics that we have to work out. It is obviously a desired instinct, I just don’t know that we’ll get there before the end of this exercise, but it’s something that we’ll continue to work through,” he said.
“The whole intent behind the program is that integration, that tactical interoperability between our teams. We have had the opportunity to do some cross-servicing with the Australians, which has been great, and so we continue to nurture and build upon that capability.”
The JASDF also used Exercise Southern Cross to forward deploy its F-35As from Darwin to Tindal to simulate a Forward Arming and Refuelling Point (FARP) and RAAF technicians serviced the aircraft while they were on the ground. This cross-servicing will potentially lead to cross-maintenance and over time to the aforementioned goal of cross-crewing.
“On two previous theatre security packages out of Eielson Air Force Base and Okinawa, Japan, we had a chance to work and integrate with the Japanese with a lot of success. Japan is another of our partners that were working through the programmatic nuances of being able to get Japanese pilots into American jets and vice-versa. There are just some technicalities and some security things that we continue to work through,” COL Gilpin explained.
“There’s some nuance between cross-servicing and cross-maintenance. We’re in the cross-servicing phase, we haven’t quite got to doing major maintenance, but that is the long-term end goal state. That way, when we’re deployed as a coalition or a force – whether it’s here, or in the second or third island chain and we’ve got a mixed contingent of personnel - we can do each other’s jobs.”