Stealth fighters from the US Air Force (USAF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have conducted a joint “hot-pit” refuelling exercise.
The work took place at RAAF Curtin in Australia and involved Lockheed Martin F-22As from the USAF and Lockheed F-35As from the RAAF, according to the US Indo-Pacific Command.
“Hot-pit” refuelling means the jets were refuelled with their engines still running, sharply reducing ground-time and facilitating more sorties.
The capability is part of the Agile Employment (ACE) concept employed by the US and allies, which emphasises operating from austere locations. The aim of ACE is to de-emphasise big, easy-to-hit air bases and to operate from unpredictable locations, thus complicating the targeting picture for adversaries.
“It is always a challenge going into locations that are not fully developed bases,” says a USAF F-22 pilot.
“Our goal in going was to continue to develop techniques and procedures for non-standard operating locations and prove that we can rapidly and effectively deploy air power to any location, no matter how remote. By bringing our support personnel and jets from both the USAF and RAAF, we were able to gather invaluable data points for utilising this base for agile employment in the future.”
The effort followed the conclusion of Australia’s Pitch Black exercise, which saw air forces from 19 nations, including Australia and the USA, conduct three weeks of intensive exercises in northern Australia.
The exercise involved over 140 aircraft and 4,000 personnel.
