A-10 Warthogs Elephant Walk In Show Of Force, Weeks After 52 Stealth Fighters Taxied Down Runway 

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) conducted its second Elephant Walk within weeks, this time with ten Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II fighters at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, located in Harrison Township, Michigan, said Defense Blog. 

Earlier this month, we reported 52 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters conducted an Elephant Walk down a runway at Hill Air Force base in Utah. It was a show of massive force against Iran as the world was on edge for war. Since then, tensions have receded but are still elevated. 

Elephant walks are generally conducted right before a minimum interval takeoff (MITO), a technique used by USAF to scramble all jets to take off at twelve- and fifteen-second intervals.

The objective of the exercise is to get all fighters and bombers in the air within fifteen minutes of an alert of an incoming missile attack.

“A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter aircraft flown here by pilots of the 107th Fighter Squadron, perform an, “Elephant Walk,” on the runway as they deploy for Snowbird January 21, 2020,” according to a press release issued by the 127th Wing Public Affairs.

Defense Blog noted that an Elephant Walk “is a fundamental training element when preparing for global strike missions.”

The 127th Wing’s motto is “We Stand Ready,” as the latest training exercise suggests the A-10s could be preparing for combat in the Middle East. 

We’ve noted in the last several weeks the Pentagon has sent thousands of troops, B-52 bombers, stealth fighters, and other military equipment to the Middle East as a show of force against Iran. 

Earlier this month, Iranian state media tweeted a promotional war video of its defensive missile systems, the same one that shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, going against a wide range of U.S. warplanes. 

عاجل : التلفزيون الإيراني بث قبل قليل نشيد الحرب الإيرانية – العراقية في إشارة إلى حالة الحرب التي قد تشهدها المنطقة بعد مقتل سليماني . هذا النشيد ومترجم إلى اللغة العربية. pic.twitter.com/2NnNxYDOKW

— محمد مجيد الأحوازي (@MohamadAhwaze) January 6, 2020