The Air Force will participate in the Australia-led Pitch Black multinational exercise set to begin Friday.

The Air Force said on Monday that six F-15K fighters will join the biennial exercise, which will be held from July12 through August 2 at an Australian military air base in Darwin. 

The six fighters will reportedly take off from an air base in Daegu on Wednesday and fly for seven hours and 30 minutes to arrive at the Darwin base, refueling five times in the air with the help of South Korea’s KC-330 tanker aircraft. 

The Air Force said it will mark the first time South Korean fighter jets are refueled in flight by a KC-330 to participate in a multinational exercise without a stopover. 

South Korean fighter jets previously refueled in flight to participate in the Red Flag exercises, but from a U.S. aerial refueling aircraft. 

Launched in 1981, Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial warfare drill hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force. South Korea first took part in the exercise in 2022, deploying six KF-16 fighter jets.