If the United States picked a president based on proposed names for the nation’s new bomber, our new commander in chief would be Donald Trump.
On Monday, the Air Force announced that the new long range strike-bomber would be named Raider, after asking airmen to submit possible names for the B-21.
But thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request from War is Boring, a military blog, we now know all 4,600 names that were submitted.
Six proposed names for the B-21 included a reference to the Republican presidential nominee, including the Trumpizator, Trumpnator and, simply, DONALD J. TRUMP. By comparison, there are no names mentioning Hillary Clinton.
Many were what you’d expect of a stealth bomber. More than 80 include the word “night,” 70 the word “shadow, and 27 include some version of “ghost.”
But some airmen got original. Nine included the word “McBombface,” a nod to Boaty McBoatface, the overwhelming popular vote winner of a competition to name a polar research ship this year. One submission twists the meme, proposing the name Nukey McMeltface, since the B-21 will eventually be able to carry nuclear weapons.
The total cost to build the new bomber could be up to $100 billion for 800 to 100 copies of the plane, and many airmen poked fun at the price tag with their names: Cost Overrun, Do We Really Have the Funding for this and YouThinkWeWastedMoneyontheF35, hahahahahaha!!!
Others were looking at ways to offset the cost with the name: Insert Sponsor.
There were names alluding to the stealth bomber’s mission (ISIS Fly Swatter) and those that just evoked the best of America (Tiger’s Jaws of Liberty).
A number of Harry Potter fans got in on the action, proposing names like Basilisk, a serpent that can grow up to 50 feet, and Hippogriff, a magical animal that is half eagle, half horse.
Finally, amid the list of proposed names depicting doom and death and darkness, one stood out like a sore, glittery thumb: Princess Sparklepony.
See the whole list here and tweet us your favorites at @DailyonDefense.
B-21 Name Submissions by Robert Beckhusen on Scribd
