Enjoy These Photos Of The Recent B-2 Elephant Walk To Prepare For The B-21 Unveiling

When you put together for the Raider rollout tomorrow, check out its predecessor staging a powerful Elephant Stroll.

Eight B-2A Spirit plane took half in a uncommon stealth bomber Elephant Stroll carried out at Whiteman Air Pressure Base, on Nov. 7, 2022. The spectacular show of energy was carried out by the 509th and 131st Bomb Wings as a part of Train Spirit Vigilance 22 [note, in some releases, the exercise is called Spirit Vigilance 23], a coaching train targeted on enhancing the lethality and rising the readiness of the Airmen who help and execute the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber mission.

“This can be a reminder that the B-2 Spirit bomber is the seen leg of nuclear triad,” stated Col. Geoffrey Steeves, 509th Operations Group commander in a public release. “Merely put, the B-2 is the world’s most strategic plane. It’s the solely plane on the planet that mixes stealth, payload, and long-range strike. We’re charged with delivering the nation’s strongest weapons for our most necessary missions.”

Gathering 8 out 20 B-2 Spirit bombers, the Elephant Stroll was a approach to display the power of the International Strike Command to discourage the enemy whereas showcasing the entire stealth bomber crew’s capability by generate a number of sorties. “We’re displaying a functionality right here to quickly generate and deploy [the B-2] below larger scrutiny and time restraints than the traditional day-to-day flying mission,” Capt. Richard Collier, 509th Plane Upkeep Squadron director of operations. “Right here we display to our close to peer adversaries, in addition to to ourselves, how properly we will carry out.”

Elephant Walks now not require an “introduction” as they’ve develop into fairly standard each within the U.S. and overseas. Right here’s how we described this sort of coaching in a earlier article:

“Elephant Stroll” occasions have gotten more and more frequent at air bases within the U.S. and all around the globe to check the squadrons capability to launch giant formations of plane at quick discover. Should you search in our archive you can find many articles with images of plane participating in this sort of drills, the place all sorts of fight planes (together with tankers or mixed formations) taxi all collectively (roughly…) in the identical method they’d do in case of a minimum interval takeoff, after which, relying on the aim of the coaching occasion, they both take off or return again to their parking slots.

Within the army aviation neighborhood, this course of is named an “elephant stroll,” a time period that originated among the many U.S. forces throughout World Warfare II when a whole lot of plane would taxi in single-file traces that resembled elephants strolling to a waterhole.

Really, most of occasions, these “walks” are staged simply to get some nice shots (and that is completely positive, as a result of the images generate way more curiosity), because the train’s purpose is clearly to not taxi alongside the runway in shut formation however to evaluate the power launch as many plane as doable, within the shortest time doable.

“The B-2 stealth bomber has by no means been extra related than it’s now,” Col. Steeves stated. “It was conceived on the top of the Chilly Warfare however fielded on the identical time the Soviet Union dissolved and the Berlin Wall fell. Now, 30 years later the B-2 finds itself on this planet for which it was created — strategic competitors. This train is a reminder that the 509th Bomb Wing and the 131st Bomb Wing are able to execute their missions of executing nuclear operations and world strike, anytime, anyplace.”

On a regular basis we display to the world, in addition to to ourselves, how properly we will carry out.
Immediately we present how we’re #alwaysready. #FollowUs #SpiritVigilance #StrikerNation pic.twitter.com/5Ex4l703cH

— 509th Bomb Wing (@Whiteman_AFB) November 29, 2022

Apparently, the images of the Elephant Stroll had been launched shortly earlier than the unveiling of the B-21 Raider, U.S. Air Pressure’s subsequent stealth bomber constructed by Northrop Grumman and destined to  change the B-1 and B-2 fleets.

Though we don’t have a transparent concept of the form of the B-21, primarily based on the few renderings which were launched to date, plainly the 6th generation aircraft can have many issues in frequent with its predecessor, together with the peculiar “hawk’s-beak” profile, inherited from the B-2 Spirit, and the actual fact it will likely be a flying wing. Nevertheless, the brand new bomber, that the U.S. Air Pressure plans to acquire in 100 examples ought to have the “W” formed trailing edge that’s an evolution from the Spirit’s sawtooth trailing edge and needs to be munch smaller than the Spirit.

Nonetheless, the brand new B-21 bomber won’t be prepared for service earlier than 2026 or 2027; till it’s fully retired within the 2030s, the B-2 will proceed to play a distinguished strategic deterrence position.

David Cenciotti is a journalist primarily based in Rome, Italy. He’s the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of many world’s most well-known and skim army aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for main worldwide magazines, together with Air Forces Month-to-month, Fight Plane, and lots of others, protecting aviation, protection, warfare, trade, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown a number of fight planes with totally different air forces. He’s a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Pressure, a non-public pilot and a graduate in Pc Engineering. He has written 5 books and contributed to many extra ones.