One of the realities of modern airpower is its reliance on the so-called ‘force multipliers’ for support. This can be in the shape of an effective Command & Control (C2) system – either an Airborne Early Warning & Control platform and/or ground-based Control & Reporting Units – or a robust and flexible air-to-air refuelling system.
In the case of the latter capability, Exercise Pitch Black 2026 involved the support of no fewer than eight tanker aircraft from four countries and the European Multi-national Multi-role Tanker Transport Unit (MMU). Between them, these eight aircraft supported both Red Air (adversary) and Blue Air (friendly) missions, flying day and night missions throughout the three-week exercise.
But because of the limited ramp space available in Darwin, home to the majority of the fighter jets in Pitch Black 2026, seven of the tankers were based at RAAF Amberley in south-east Queensland.
The exception was a single RAAF Airbus KC-30A MRTT from 33 Squadron, which was based at RAAF Tindal for the duration of the exercise.
“Amberley is essentially the tanker hub for Pitch Black, supporting the fight up north,” Squadron Leader Scott LaMont, 33 Sqn A Flight Commander, told ADM during the final week of Pitch Black 2026.
“From an air-to-air refuelling perspective, the exercise has gone exceptionally well; by the end of today we have achieved 84 successful missions, re-fuelled over 250 fighter formations and as a collective, flown the equivalent of 13 laps around the equator.”
RAAF Amberley is the home of 33 Sqn and the logical base for the tankers deployed by other nations.
These included two elderly Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers from the US Air Force, two KC-30M MRTTs from the European MMU, one MRRT from the Spanish Air Force and a Voyager KC.3 (MRTT) from the Royal Air Force.
A second 33 Sqn KC-30A was also dedicated to the exercise at Amberley each day.
For the Amberley-based aircraft, this entails a 3 ½ hour transit into the exercise airspace and a similar flight home once the mission is complete.
“Each mission is approximately 9 hours in duration, this combined with a landing time of 2am local results in a rewarding but challenging flight. The benefit of these type of mission profiles, is that it exposes crews to realistic scenarios that are required for real life operational flying.” SQNLDR LaMont explained.
On the face of it, with all nations bar the USAF flying a variant of Airbus’ MRTT, planning for Pitch Black operations would seem simple, but there are a number of nuances which complicate matters.
For example, the MMU’s aircraft do not have a Universal Aerial Refuelling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI), meaning they are unable to receive fuel from another tanker.
The RAF’s Voyagers are not fitted with the Advanced Refuelling Boom System (ARBS), which renders them incapable of passing fuel to fighters such as the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II.
And on top of this, there are variations in the number of clearances each country holds to refuel different types of aircraft, as well as whether it has a Memorandum of Understanding to cover the financial and legal requirements of transferring fuel from one country’s aircraft to another.
Another complexity is that the USAF KC-135s could not provide boom and probe and drogue refuelling during a single mission, requiring the aircraft to land and be reconfigured by technicians – a process which can take up to four hours.
RAAF and MMU MRTTs on the other hand can be reconfigured by the crew in flight in a process taking only minutes.
To overcome these issues, SQNLDR LaMont said various planning conferences occurred in the six months prior to Exercise Pitch Black 2026. This clarified which nations are participating, what aircraft type and how many they will deploy, and where they will be based.
Once the exercise begins, representatives from a Tanker Planning Cell within the Task Unit Headquarters (TUHQ) in Darwin attend the daily AM and PM mission planning conferences and extract all the required information - for example which tanker is compatible to refuel which fighters, as well as positions and timings.
This information is then passed to a similar cell within the TUHQ at Amberley and from this an Air-to-Air Refuelling document – or AAR card – is produced and disseminated to the individual tanker crews.
“The AAR card will give the crews essential details such as which force they are supporting, what location and time they need to be on/off station, what receivers they will be refuelling and how much fuel they will require,” SQNLDR LaMont detailed.
“We also have a tanker contingency plan, meaning if one tanker becomes un-serviceable, the fighter aircraft know what tanker is nearby, is it compatible and how much spare fuel they have.”
During one Pitch Black tanker formation mission, an MMU MRTT passed fuel to an RAAF KC-30A for the first time – also marking the first time the MMU has refuelled another MRTT.
On the ground cross maintenance activities were performed between the RAAF, the RAF and the MMU.
“The main objectives of Pitch Black are international engagement and interoperability and using our assets to extend the range and endurance of fighter aircraft,” SQNLDR LaMont concluded.
“It’s been evident from the start that our procedures are closely aligned with our allies and international partners - all working seamlessly towards a common goal.”
