The B-21's name, selected through a contest, honors Doolittle's Raiders. 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. (arstechnica.com) さらに...
The B21 will be a repeat of the F35 program unless from the top down cost, schedule and accountability and is managed like a commercial program. You have a small window in the commercial business to get you product on the market or you lose that share. In the military once the contract is let it seem like that attitude goes from "if we don' get it done today, we'll get it tomorrow".
If the predictors of the future are correct, the B-21 Raider will be converted to a pilot-less aircraft early in its service career.
Here are the top 15 names that made the short list: Boomerang, Ghost, Horizon, LeMay, Liberator II, Mitchell II, Night Fury, Phoenix, Raider, Shadow Fortress, Stingray, Valkyrie, Victory, Wraith and Zeus II.
This is a aircraft designed for a single service and mission and doesn't have the crazy conflicting requirements of the F-35 imposed on it. Also, Northrop has the experience of the B-2 program to leverage. They may yet pull this off...