F-35’s First “Elephant Walk” With 35 Lightning II Aircraft at Hill AFB performed by 388th and 419th Fighter Wing

On November 14^th, 2-18 according to the Facebook page of the Hill Air Force Base the pilots of the F-35A under command of 388th and 419th Fighter Wing prepared for a takeoff. This exercise is actually to portray the combat owner of the airbase in Utah.

In the picture released by the Airbase, viewers can easily see up to 35 F-35 Lightning II aircraft in an exercise which is dubbed as the “Elephant Walk”.

During these Elephant Walk exercises, aircraft usually taxi in a close formation or a sequenced line right before the minimum interval takeoff. Whether the aircraft taxi off or taxi back to their apron is based on the nature of the training exercise.

This Elephant Walk is also a way of determining the ability of the airbase as if they can quickly deploy a large force of air jets against the air or ground targets or not. In this particular case, the exercise was carried out to determine the readiness and lethality of the F-35 Lightning II.