The U.S. Air Force has officially named its new stealth bomber — the B-21 Raider.
Officials gathered at the Air Force Association’s Air Space Cyber conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Monday to announce the results of a contest to name the first bomber of the 21st century.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James honored three airmen in the process, including one who took part in a famous World War II mission over Tokyo — the “Doolittle Raiders.”
“Today I want to recognize three Airmen who answered the call to be a part of a new Air Force legacy and name our new bomber,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said, Air Force Public Affairs reported. “The first two … submitted proposals that captured the essence of the bomber force and they are the winners of our contest.”
The officer then spotlighted Lt. Col. Jaime I. Hernandez, 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron commander, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas; Tech. Sgt. Derek D. White, emergency management craftsman, 175th Civil Engineering Squadron, Maryland Air National Guard; and 101-year-old Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, who took part in the Doolittle raid of April 18, 1942.
The two winners were picked from a group of over 2,100 submissions.
“I am very humbled to be here representing Gen. Doolittle and the Raiders at the naming of the B-21 Raider, and wish they were here,” Mr. Cole said, Air Force Times reported. “We are deeply honored.”
The Doolittle raid used 16 U.S. Army bombers under the command of Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle to force the Japanese to rethink their military strategy and acknowledge the “dangerous blind spot” of China’s coastal provinces, the Smithsonian magazine wrote.
“American aircraft carriers not only could launch surprise attacks from the seas and [have the planes] land safely in China but could possibly even fly bombers directly from Chinese airfields to attack Japan,” the magazine said on its website last year.
The 1942 mission was launched at a low point of the Pacific war, just months after the shock of Pearl Harbor and predating the turning point battles at the Coral Sea and Midway.
“The Japanese military ordered an immediate campaign against strategically important airfields, issuing an operational plan in late April, just days after the Doolittle raid,” Smithsonian said.
The B-21 Raider will be built by Northrop Grumman and rolled out in the mid-2020s, Fox News reported. It will be able to strike anywhere on the planet after launching in the U.S.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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