WASHINGTON — Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James on Friday morning revealed the first rendering of the long-range strike bomber, designated the “B-21,” and said the Air Force will be taking suggestions from airmen to help decide the name of the bomber.
“The aircraft represents the future of our airmen and their voice is important to this process,” James said Friday at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
The airman who submits the selected name will join James to announce it at the Air Force Association conference this fall.
Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman Corp. won the contract, worth as much as $80 billion, for the long-range strike bomber last fall, beating out teams from The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Boeing challenged the contract award, but the Government Accountability Office upheld Northrop’s win earlier this month.
Boeing and Lockheed won’t ask a federal court to overturn the contract award after the GAO rejected its protest, according to Bloomberg News.
