The Air Force announced on Monday that the new B-21 long-range strike bomber will be called the Raider.
Retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole, the last surviving airman of the Doolittle Raiders, announced the name at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber conference at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md.
The Doolittle Raid in 1942 was the first U.S. strike against the Japanese mainland in World War II following the attack at Pearl Harbor. It was planned by then-Col. Jimmy Doolittle.
The name was selected from more than 2,100 entries submitted by airmen. More than one advocated for the new bomber to be called the Raider, but the two official winners, Lt. Col. Jaime Hernandez and Tech Sgt. Derek White, were selected based on their justification for the name.
Northrop Grumman received the contract for the new long-range strike-bomber last year and will produce about 80 to 100 of the planes. Six other contractors will work on the airframe or different missions systems: BAE, GKN Aerospace, Janicki Industries, Orbital ATK, Rockwell Collins and Spirit Aerosystems. Pratt and Whitney will make the engine.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced in February that the new bomber would be designated as the B-21, since it is the first bomber of the 21st century.
