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In 2026 the Royal Australian Air Force will host the exercise Pitch Black at RAAF Darwin in the Northern Territories. Provisional dates for the exercise are 17 July – 7 August. Besides a large number and variety of RAAF aircraft, you can expect an equally large number of foreign aircraft taking part in this ever expanding exercise.
Mentioned (amongst others) in a long participants list for the 2026 edition; Brunei (C-295), India (Rafale), Indonesia (F-16, C-130), Japan (F-35, E-2), Malaysia (Su-30), Philippines (FA-50), Papua New Guinea (PAC-750), Singapore (F-16, G-550), South Korea (F-16), Thailand (F-16), USA (F-35, MV-22, C-130).
No doubt this is an extremely impressive line up.
There are two options to choose from on this tour...
The Long Tour: A trip to and from Amsterdam, starting with about 5 days in the south of Australia. You will spend two days at RAAF Williamtown, visit the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) and RAN Nowra for a day, and then have Friday and Saturday left for RAAF Richmond and some sightseeing activities in and around Sydney.
After that, we fly to Darwin on Sunday to then spend the entire week for exercise Pitch Black and the display over Mindil Beach. The return journey begins on Saturday 25 July. The plan is to depart to Sydney on Sunday 12 July 2026 (arrival on Monday 13 July) and land back in home on Sunday 26 July 2026.
The Short Tour: This tour focuses entirely on exercise Pitch Black. From Monday 20 July to Friday 24 July we can attend this exercise and the display above Mindil Beach. The plan is to depart to Darwin on Saturday 18 July 2026 (arrival very early Monday 20 July) and land back home on Saturday 25 July 2026.
This trip is being organised and operated by our great friends at 4Aviation in the Netherlands. If interest is sufficient numbers we will add a COAP Tourn Manager to the trip to supplement the 4Aviation crew taking part.
To see details of a past Pitch Black tour and what was seen during the trip please go to: https://www.4aviation.nl/reports/report-australia-2022/
The Long Tour
A trip to and from Amsterdam, starting with about 5 days in the south of Australia. You will spend two days at RAAF Williamtown, visit the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) and RAN Nowra for a day, and then have Friday and Saturday left for RAAF Richmond and some sightseeing activities in and around Sydney.
After that, we fly to Darwin on Sunday to then spend the entire week for exercise Pitch Black and the display over Mindil Beach. The return journey begins on Saturday 25 July. The plan is to depart to Sydney on Sunday 12 July 2026 (arrival on Monday 13 July) and land back in home on Sunday 26 July 2026.
The Short Tour
This tour focuses entirely on exercise Pitch Black. From Monday 20 July to Friday 24 July we can attend this exercise and the display above Mindil Beach. The plan is to depart to Darwin on Saturday 18 July 2026 (arrival very early Monday 20 July) and land back home on Saturday 25 July 2026.
Bookings for this trip will be handled directly by 4Aviation through their own website, so please do not be concerned when you do not get the usual COAP booking form. Once your booking info has been received one of the 4Aviation team will be in contact with you to discuss next steps.
Whilst 4Aviation trips are usually from Dutch Airports they will offer the option of trips including flights from your preferred UK airport, or a land-only option if you prefer to arrange your own flight itinerary.
Pricing
The Long Tour: price without airline tickets is € 2795,- per person. The single-room supplement is € 695.
The Short Tour: price without airline tickets is € 2195,- per person. The single-room supplement is € 495.
