NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The U.S. Air Force revealed Sept. 19 that the service’s new B-21 strategic bomber will be named the “Raider” in honor of Jimmy Doolittle’s Raiders.
The Air Force picked “Raider” after holding a service-wide contest and reviewing more than 2,100 unique name submissions. Months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Doolittle’s Raiders launched a surprise bombing raid on Japan that helped boost American morale early in World War II.
“It was an audacious mission to avenge Pearl Harbor and all the American lives lost,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said. “Our greatest generation, the generation of World War II, secured our freedom for all of us, and we’ve been able to live our lives as a result.”
One of the Raiders, retired Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, who recently celebrated his 101st birthday, announced the winning name at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference.
The Air Force tapped Northrop Grumman [NOC] in October to develop the new stealthy, deep-strike bomber, which the service plans to begin fielding in the mid-2020s. But James warned that a long-term continuing resolution, which Congress is considering to fund the federal government into 2017, would prevent the Air Force from devoting more funds to the B-21’s development next year.
The Air Force is considering declassifying further parts of the B-21 Raider program, but a key service official warned that the program would not be entirely declassified.
Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) Director and Program Executive Officer (PEO) Randall Walden said Monday the service is working with the intelligence community (IC) to ensure which information, and the timing of its potential release, makes sense. He didn’t say which aspects of the program the Air Force was considering declassifying. The Air Force was unable to respond to a request for comment by press time Monday.
