The United States Air Force (USAF) held another Elephant Walk last Tuesday (22) at Kadena Air Base, in southern Japan. The training, also seen as a demonstration of strength, brought together 36 aircraft including fighters, helicopters, tank and intelligence aircraft.
The "demonstration of capabilities", as the USAF categorized the event, involved six different models: 23 F-15 Eagle fighters, eight F-22 Raptor fighters, two HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters, a KC-135 tanker , an E-3 Sentry radar plane and an RC-135 Rivet t reconnaissance (spy) plane.
Elephant Walk is a term that dates back to World War II, when large numbers of bombers would taxi in single file before taking off at short notice for a mission. The name was attributed because the taxiing aircraft resemble a group of elephants walking together to a watering hole. After World War II, the term was used again during the Vietnam War, this time referring to the formations of B-52 Stratofortress bombers.
As noted by the portal Air & Space Forces Magazine, the display of airpower (the third of its kind the US has done in Japan this year) and capabilities at Kadena took place on the same day that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with his Chinese counterpart, Minister Defense General Wei Fenghe in Cambodia.
During that meeting, Austin asked China "to refrain from further destabilizing actions towards Taiwan", according to the Pentagon. The American also expressed concerns about "a increasingly dangerous behavior demonstrated by [People's Liberation Army] aircraft in the Indo-Pacific region, which increases the risk of an accident.”
With the exception of the F-22, all aircraft belong to the Kadena base itself, home to around 80 aircraft. The presence of stealth fighters is the result of Controversial decision to withdraw its F-15s from Kadena, permanently stationed there for 30 years.
The write-off of F-15C/D Eagle fighters has already begun in the US. Even with the high performance and good combat history, the Eagles are veteran models and the Air Force claims that the withdrawal of the planes is precisely part of a previously programmed modernization of forces.
The USAF began the withdrawal of nearly 50 fighters from Kadena on 01/11 and three days later sent a detachment with eight F-22 fighters. The organization will maintain rotations with 4.5 and 5 generation jets until a permanent solution is defined, which should involve the permanent deployment of fighter jets. F-15EX Eagle II, a model that is currently being tested.
