Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. praised the performance of the Philippine Air Force contingent in Exercise Pitch Black 2026 during his visit to the Royal Australian Air Force base in Darwin on 6 and 7 August.

Teodoro described the Filipino participants’ performance in the multinational air combat exercise as “absolutely inspiring” and stressed the need for greater convergence and alignment among regional partners.

“It’s awesome, so to speak, and it’s humbling,” Teodoro said during a press conference, noting the complexity and scope of the missions undertaken by the contingent, which required precision, high-level coordination and speed.

“I was genuinely proud and amazed, and it was an eye-opener seeing how complicated an exercise this is,” he added.

Teodoro lauded the performance of the Filipino pilot designated as the Strike Package commander, who led a strike team composed of around 20 aircraft from five nations and successfully executed a large-force employment mission involving nearly 60 aircraft.

“What’s also there [is] the importance of those on the ground and those who brought our people here. So it’s a whole ecosystem that needs to work together, not merely the participation of one, but the crucial participation of all,” Teodoro said.

“...And for us to work on the microsecond level, it is really something that each and every Filipino should be proud of,” he added.

Acknowledging the Philippines’ efforts to strengthen defense cooperation and interoperability, Teodoro also emphasized the need to continually enhance defense arrangements with partner countries.

“[T]he exercise yesterday impresses upon us the need, really, to work shoulder-to-shoulder, closely; alignment in interoperability, and of course, underscored by the general values which we uphold: international law and UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),” Teodoro said.

“And we will work our level best on the Philippine side to match the commitments of all our partners, and we value very greatly the full commitment of Australia to our bilateral and multilateral engagements,” he added.

Teodoro also attended the closing ceremony of Exercise Pitch Black on 7 August, concluding the biennial multinational exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force.

The exercise brought together 21 nations to train and engage in complex air combat scenarios.