This Picture Means You're Dead: Air Force F-35 and F-16 'Elephant Walk' Elephant walks like last Friday’s are meant to demonstrate the Air Force’s ability to mount a series offensive or defensive in the event of such a conflict. Here's What You Need to Remember: The primary reason behind these long-range flights for the Russian pilots, particularly for heavy payload bombers, is simply training. In order to be able to execute these long-range bombing missions in the event of real war, Russian pilots conduct training flights that closely resemble how actual combat operations would unfold. Last Friday, the U.S. Air Force’s 354th Fighter Wing and the 168th Wing of the Air National Guard conducting a massive display of airpower, commonly referred to as an “elephant walk,” by scrambling more than 30 fighters and two refueling aircraft in just a matter of minutes from the airstrips on Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.