The U.S. Air Force held a long-planned "elephant walk" exercise with 52 F-35A aircraft from Hill Air Force Base to demonstrate power, Popular Mechanics reported Tuesday.
The exercise used all combat-ready F-35A fighter bombers within the service branch's fleet, and may have incurred a total of $4.5M in operational expenses, the report noted.
Hill Air Force Base, the exercise's Utah-based venue, holds four operational F-35A squadrons across active duty and reserve wings.
USAF said it did not intend to have the elephant walk coincide with the U.S.-Iran conflict, despite the long-planned exercise's timing.
