F-35 'Elephant Walk': How 52 Stealth Fighters Took to the Skies All at Once

What You Need to Know: In January 2020, Hill Air Force Base in Utah conducted a remarkable "elephant walk," launching 52 F-35A Lightning II jets in a massive display of fifth-generation fighter strength.

-Coinciding with escalating tensions with Iran—though reportedly planned in advance—the exercise demonstrated the U.S. Air Force's ability to deploy a large fleet of advanced stealth fighters simultaneously.

-The operation aimed to test the base's readiness and the F-35's operational capabilities, highlighting improvements in reliability and maintenance.

-While the spectacle showcased American air power, it raised questions about cost-effectiveness, with estimates suggesting the exercise could have cost over $2 million per hour in flight time alone.

$4 Million Spectacle: The Cost Behind the F-35's Impressive 'Elephant Walk'

In January 2020, the US Air Force put on an impressive display of fifth-generation fighter power, with a 52-plane “elephant walk” formation, comprised entirely of F-35A Lightning II aircraft. The exercise happened to coincide as tensions with Iran escalated – but the Air Force said the timing was coincidental, and that the exercise had been planned months in advance.

“The exercise took place at Hill Air Force Base in Utah,” Popular Mechanics reported. “Hill was the first Air Force Base to become fully operational with the F-16 Fighting Falcon more than thirty years ago, and history is repeating itself with the F-35A.”

As Fox 13 News noted at the time, the Hill elephant walk launched more fifth-generation fighters (52), than any other nation has ever built.

“Hill received the last of 78 F-35As in December 2019,” Popular Mechanics reported. “To commemorate the occasion, the base decided to conduct what the U.S. military calls an “elephant walk”: a mass sort of aircraft.”

As Hill AFB stated, “the wings fly 30-60 sorties per day from Hill’s flightline. During the exercise, Airmen launched roughly the same number of daily sorties, but they took off in quick intervals.”

How much does a 52-ship F-35 elephant walk cost?

The F-35 Lightning II costs $44,000 per hour to fly. If each of the 52 jets in the elephant walk flew for just one hour, that’s still a $2 million dollar-plus exercise. If the jets flew for two hours, the cost shoots about $4 million.

Worth it? Uh, I’m not sure about that, although the finished result was something to behold. You can watch the video that the 419th tweeted of the event, here.  

“Lockheed Martin [is] struggling to get the cost per hour down,” Popular Mechanics reported, “which left unchecked could force the Pentagon to buy fewer planes.”

Rampant costs aside, “the Air Force does get something out of the exercise. The entire base trains for the event, giving pilots and maintainers a fixed date to get a large number of jets ready to take to the skies. Once the planes are ready, the base must work to launch and recover 52 fighter jets. It’s not a war scenario, but it is one that exercises virtually the entire base’s muscles,” Popular Mechanics reported.

As Hill AFB stated: “launching aircraft from multiple squadrons simultaneously presents various challenges and allows the wings to evaluate the capabilities of maintenance professionals, as well as pilots and command and control teams.”

The F-35

The F-35 Lightning II has a checkered history, laced with controversy, cost-overruns, delays, performance issues. So, the Hill elephant walk was likely an Air Force effort meant to signal that the F-35 was indeed a functional airframe, capable of operating on a set schedule and capable of projecting force.

“The elephant walk is also evidence the F-35 is growing easier to maintain.” Whereas in the past, the F-35 only had a reliability rate of about 66 percent, the reliability rate has risen above 75 percent, making something like a 52-ship elephant walk a possibility.

About the Author: Harrison Kass 

Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor with over 1,000 articles published. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken. Email the Author: Editor@nationalinterest.org. 

Image Credit: All images from U.S. Air Force. Images are of various elephant walks.