The 17-nation joint military exercise will officially open today.
Starting August 19, about 100 aircraft and nearly 2,500 military personnel from 17 countries will participate in the "Pitch Black-2022" joint air exercise, which will last for three weeks, mainly at Darwin and Tindall bases in northern Australia.
Screenshot of the official website of the Australian Air Force
Participating countries include Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.
In fact, the Pitch Black is not a new exercise, but a biennial regular exercise between the Australian Air Force and its allies, which has been interrupted for four years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The AF said the exercise would provide military personnel from the Indo-Pacific region and other countries with experience in operating aircraft, systems and working methods in a unique environment in northern Australia.
However, the governor of Chang'an Avenue noted that the scale of the military exercise set a record for the series of military exercises, and the participating countries were all over North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia, of which Asia covered East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
At the same time, the launch of the "Dark 2022" military exercise coincided with the continued tension in the region.
First of all, US House Speaker Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier this month, which directly led to the escalation of tension in the Taiwan Strait.
Second, the United States has recently continued to win over Japan and South Korea, strengthen military alliances, and try to build an "Asia-Pacific version of NATO."
In addition, the United States has recently held and will carry out a number of military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region, which continues to stir up the regional security situation.
In the above-mentioned sensitive and complex background, the "dark" military exercise will "add fuel to the fire" of the regional situation, and its scale and wide distribution of participating countries have highlighted three major dangerous trends, which are worth vigilance.
First, Japan and South Korea participated in the "pitch black" military exercise for the first time, further drawing closer to the GEOpolitical game of the United States.
According to Yonhap News Agency, in this "pitch black" military exercise, the ROK Air Force will perform the air refueling mission alone for the first time, and it is also the first time that the ROK Air Force will participate in the exercise overseas with its own combat strength.
According to reports, a formation of six "KF-16" fighters of the South Korean Air Force took off for Australia on the 18th, and a "KC-330" aerial refueling tanker and more than 130 officers and men will also participate in the exercise. During the formation's trip to Australia, the ROK Air Force will use the KC-330 to perform the first aerial refueling mission and the same mission again in australian airspace.
South Korea's "KC-330" air tanker (the previous one) and "KF-16" fighter air refueling aircraft conducted aerial refueling missions. Screenshot of the Yonhap report
The governor of Chang'an Avenue noted that the United States, Japan, and South Korea have interacted frequently recently, and the United States has played a clear role as a link.
Just last week, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Canada and Australia held the "Pacific Dragon" military exercise, which was led by the US Third Fleet and the first joint military exercise between the United States, Japan and South Korea since 2017, during which joint training using Aegis ships to deal with ballistic missiles was also implemented.
In fact, the United States, Japan, and South Korea have long laid the groundwork for joint military exercises.
Since the new South Korean government came to power in May, it has strengthened its alliance with the United States on the one hand, and gradually improved its relations with Japan on the other.
On June 11, the defense ministers of the United States, Japan, and South Korea held their first trilateral meeting since 2019 during the incense meeting. At that time, the three defense ministers sent a signal of "unity" to the outside world, and specifically mentioned that joint military exercises would be restarted.
At the end of June, the leaders of Japan and South Korea attended the NATO summit for the first time, which aroused widespread concern in the international community.
In view of the frequent military interaction between the United States, Japan, and south Korea, military expert Song Zhongping pointed out that the joint anti-director of the United States, Japan, and South Korea is xi in the name of so-called response to the North Korean threat, but in essence, the United States wants to unite with Japan, South Korea, and other countries to create a global anti-missile system that has both offensive and defensive capabilities, and the hidden goal is a missile system directly aimed at China and Russia. Through the construction of the anti-missile system, the military alliance between the United States, Japan, and South Korea can also be further consolidated.
Second, Germany has traveled thousands of miles to the treaty, and NATO's ties with AUKUS have strengthened.
Since August 15, Germany has sent a number of fighters to the Asia-Pacific region to participate in a number of joint military exercises, and the European Typhoon fighter, the main fighter of the Luftwaffe, will also participate in the exercise. This was the first time since World War II that Germany had sent its warplanes to the Asia-Pacific region.
Some Japanese media commented that the German side wants to use this exercise to prove that its air force can also operate in Asia, while "balancing China."
On August 15, in Neuburg on the Danube River in Germany, a European Typhoon fighter plane prepared to take off from the air base. Image source: Visual China
It is worth noting that the graphics published by Germany's "Daily Mirror" show that when flying to South Korea, the Luftwaffe will cross the Taiwan Strait and hope to "show strength" in this trip to Asia.
But Luftwaffe Superintendent Ingo Gerhardz subtly denied the report, saying he knew that both the South China Sea and Taiwan were sensitive areas, and that "we would fly more than 10 kilometers, basically not touch the South China Sea, and would move on international routes." ”
Gerhardts also stressed that the deployment is intended to signal to Germany's partners, not to China.
Military analyst Yevseyev believes that the United States has dragged Germany into a major geopolitical game with dangerous consequences for regional security. The United States appears to be preparing to use Germany as a link between AUKUS and NATO, and its attempts to establish a military-political alliance in the Asia-Pacific region are clear.
Third, the United States wants to make Australia an "air power dispatch center."
Compared with other recent joint military exercises, this "pitch black" military exercise is more focused on the air.
Li Li, a military expert, pointed out in the "New Defense Observation" column that the "pitch black" exercise involved two of Australia's most important bases - Darwin Base and Tyndall Base. It is conceivable that the United States wants to rely on the advantage of Australia's proximity to the South China Sea to radiate the South China Sea, connect the Indian Ocean, and even have the ability to intervene in the Middle East.
Source: New Observations on Defense
Li Li believes that the United States will rely on the advantages of the "rapid arrival" and "global deployment" of the Air Force to build Australia into an "air force dispatch center", which is a very important position.
Li Li pointed out that after the RIMPAC exercise, the United States launched the Australian multilateral exercise, relying on the allies of the United States, especially the pillar-type allies, to take turns to train the combat forces in the region for the United States.
As for the UNITED States' wanton incitement to regional tensions, there have recently been some reflective voices in Australia.
Australian veteran media personality Peter Crono pointed out on social media on the 15th that "Australia needs to step back from the edge" He said Australia's "reconnaissance, intelligence, surveillance, targeting and other military activities" in the South China Sea, militarily provoking China, represents the interests of the United States.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation commented on issues related to "freedom of navigation" on the 16th, saying that "Australia needs to discuss related issues more openly." As a nation, we must not sleepwalk into a war, especially with China. ”
Since the beginning of this year, as the United States has vigorously promoted the so-called "Indo-Pacific strategy," the militarization process between the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region has once again accelerated.
Recently, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward the "three vigilances" in view of the new trends in the situation in the Taiwan Strait, the first of which is to be vigilant that the United States will not be willing to accept defeat, gather some guys to add fuel to the fire, increase regional military deployment, promote the further escalation of the situation, and try to create a new and greater crisis.