IAF to participate in Exercise Pitch Black 2026 in Australia

📌 Summary:

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in Exercise Pitch Black 2026, the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) premier multinational air-combat exercise
• Venue and dates: Australia's Northern Territory, from July 20 to August 7, 2026
• Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green announced India's participation on X, framing it as an opportunity to strengthen regional interoperability across the Indo-Pacific

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — defence cooperation and interoperability; links to GS2 (India-Australia ties, Indo-Pacific strategy).

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Pitch Black is a biennial RAAF multinational air-combat exercise held in Australia's Northern Territory
• India and Australia also cooperate through the Quad, the Malabar naval exercise and AUSINDEX

🔑 Key Term: Interoperability — the ability of armed forces of different nations to operate together effectively using compatible systems, doctrines and procedures.