B-52 Bombers Scrambling: All Bombers Minimum Interval Takeoff

United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers during a Minimum Interval Takeoff (MITO) exercise. A Minimum Interval Takeoff is a technique of the United States Air Force for scrambling all available bomber and tanker aircraft at twelve and fifteen second intervals, respectively. Before takeoff, the aircraft perform an elephant walk to the runway. It is designed to maximize the number of aircraft launched in the least amount of time possible before the base faced a nuclear strike, which would obliterate all remaining aircraft.