The US Air Force has picked a name to go with the number for its next long-range bomber—even though it will be nearly a decade before the aircraft comes into service. After sifting through 2,100 unique names submitted in a contest run by the Air Force Global Strike Command (the successor to the Strategic Air Command), the Air Force's leadership selected "Raider" as the official name for the B-21.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, who revealed the B-21 designation for the winning Long Range Strike Bomber (LRSB) design from Northrop Grumman in February, announced the name at the Air Force Association's Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, this morning. The name honors Doolittle's Raiders, the Army Air Forces bomber group that launched a surprise attack against Japan on April 18, 1942—flying B-25 bombers off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. The last surviving member of Doolittle's Raiders, Lt. Colonel Richard Cole, joined James on stage for the naming announcement, along with the two airmen who had submitted the name.
On its current course, the B-21—which bears a distinct resemblance to Northrop Grumman's last long-range stealth bomber, the B-2 Spirit—will not reach "initial capability" until the mid-2020s. Based on well-established technology, the Raider is supposed to be a more modest investment for the Air Force than previous major aircraft programs (such as the B-2, the F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Lightning II—all of which ran far over budget). The initial development contract is for $21 billion, with a purchase of up to 100 aircraft to follow at a fly-away cost of $511 million each (based on Northrop's bid). Even at its reduced cost, the program forced the Air Force to reduce the number of F-35s it plans to purchase in order to operate within budget constraints.
The program has not been without controversy. In May, as Congress began work on the Defense Department budget, the Senate Armed Services Committee demanded that the Air Force reveal just how far under the original cost estimate Northrop bid on the project. The Air Force's leadership refused, citing operational secrecy as the reason for keeping the numbers from being public. There is also some skepticism about whether a "stealth" bomber based on current technology will even be relevant by the time it takes to the air.
But the Raider is the Air Force's only potential relief for its aging B-52 Stratofortress fleet. The last B-52H was delivered to the Air Force in 1962, meaning that the 58 still being flown by the Air Force have been in service since before most Air Force senior leaders were born—Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein was still a toddler in that year.
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