Raider, Meet Raider: AFA Unveils B-21 Model at Headquarters

The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) unveiled a replica of the Northrop Grumman B‑21 Raider stealth bomber at its national headquarters in Arlington, Va., on April 17. The model—a gift from Northrop Grumman—joins a statue of Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, World War II hero and AFA’s founding president, permanently displayed in AFA’s entrance hall.

The new 8-foot-wingspan display is the first and largest model of the next-generation bomber to be unveiled in public. Kathy J. Warden, Northrop Grumman’s Chair, President, and CEO; and Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.), President & CEO of AFA, introduced the unveiling before an audience that included Airmen, Guardians, and senior Pentagon leaders such as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach.

“Now we’ll have two Raiders in the entry,” Field said during the unveiling, which took place moments before the 2026 Doolittle Raiders Memorial Toast, AFA’s annual ceremony honoring the anniversary and heroes of the 1942 Doolittle Raid over Tokyo. “One proved the power of long‑range strike eight decades ago, and one will do so for decades to come.”

Raiders Old and New

The legacy of General Jimmy Doolittle is woven into AFA’s history. Doolittle helped found the organization in 1946—then the Air Force Association—to advocate for the importance of airpower and an independent Air Force in the postwar era. He is best known for planning and leading the 1942 Doolittle Raid, a daring long‑range strike carried out just months after the attack on Pearl Harbor that demonstrated airpower’s strategic reach and helped restore American morale.

Beyond the raid, Doolittle embodied a lifelong commitment to aviation innovation, championing advances that shaped U.S. airpower and spacepower before, during, and after World War II. Now, more than eight decades after the Tokyo Raid, another “Raider”—the Northrop Grumman B‑21—is poised to reshape the Air Force’s long‑range strike and deterrence capabilities, serving as a link from the service’s heritage directly to its future.

“While the B‑21 may not look much different from the B‑2, it represents a significant leap forward in the Air Force’s ability to project power and persist anywhere, anytime around the globe,” Warden said.

The B‑21 Raider is the United States’ next‑generation long‑range stealth bomber, designed to penetrate advanced air defense networks and operate in highly contested environments while delivering both conventional and nuclear strike capabilities. The aircraft is expected to serve as the cornerstone of the Air Force’s future bomber force, replacing the B‑2 Spirit while supplementing the aging B‑52 Stratofortress and B‑1 Lancer fleets.

Northrop Grumman’s B‑21 is currently undergoing flight testing with the Air Force, as the service looks to introduce the aircraft into operational service with frontline units by 2027. The B‑21 incorporates advanced stealth and networked capabilities intended to provide greater flexibility across a wide range of mission sets compared to the fifth-generation B‑2 Spirit currently utilized in missions like “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

The B-21’s history is also intertwined with AFA. A decade ago, at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium—now known as the Warfare Symposium—Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James announced the aircraft’s official B‑21 designation, replacing the program name “Long‑Range Strike Bomber.” Later that year, at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference, James revealed the B-21 would officially carry the name “Raider” in honor of the Doolittle Raid and its crew. During the announcement, she shared the stage with Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, the last surviving Doolittle Raider and co-pilot of the aircraft Jimmy Doolittle commanded during the raid. Lt. Col. Cole passed away in 2019 at the age of 103. His son, Dr. Rich Cole, attended the B-21 model’s unveiling.

”AFA displays many artifacts of Airmen, airpower, Guardians, and spacepower throughout our building,” said Field. “We’re trying to send that message to people as they enter AFA Headquarters—that AFA is a steward of airpower and spacepower. The B‑21 shows not just our history and our future, but our heritage and the promise of that future.”