The new fighter, of which few details are known, would help the bomber survive enemy air defenses. The Air Force is planning to acquire a new long-range fighter, known as "Penetrating Counter-Air", that would accompany the B-21 Raider deep into enemy territory. The GAO revealed that cost was the deciding factor in selecting Northrop Grumman over the Boeing and Lockheed Martin team. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on 25 October 2016 that sustained the Air Force's decision to award the LRS-B contract to Northrop Grumman. Cole, was present at the naming ceremony at the Air Force Association conference. The then-remaining survivor of the Doolittle Raiders, retired Lt. On 19 September 2016, the B-21 was formally named "Raider" in honor of the Doolittle Raiders. Cole (left), the last living Doolittle Raider, announces the name of the B-21 with Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James (right), during the Air Force Association conference on 19 September 2016 Senator McCain's proposed revisions to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2017 would have reduced authorization for the B-21 program by $302 million "due to a lower than expected contract award value", while requiring "strict… program baseline and cost control thresholds", "quarterly program performance reports", and "disclosure of the engineering and manufacturing development total contract award value".
The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services also voted to not publicly release the program's cost, restricting the information to congressional defense committees over the objections of a bipartisan group of legislators led by the committee's chairman, Senator John McCain of Arizona. Air Force stated they would not release the estimated cost for the B-21 contract with Northrop Grumman, arguing that releasing the cost would reveal too much information about the classified project to potential adversaries. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) expected the required number to increase to a minimum of 100 B-21s. In April 2016, it was reported that the U.S. The B-21 will be designed from the start with an open systems architecture.
The F-35 program manager Chris Bogdan stated that the commonality of the B-21's engines should reduce the cost of the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine. In March 2016, the USAF announced seven tier-one suppliers for the program: Pratt & Whitney BAE Systems of Nashua, New Hampshire Spirit AeroSystems of Wichita, Kansas Orbital ATK of Clearfield, Utah, and Dayton, Ohio Rockwell Collins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa GKN Aerospace of St Louis, Missouri and Janicki Industries of Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Initial operating capability (IOC) is expected to be reached by 2030. Two internal USAF studies suggest that Air Force could increase its B-21 purchase from between 80 and 100 to as many as 145 aircraft.
Air Force Global Strike Command expects that 100 B-21 bombers will be the minimum ordered and envisions some 175–200 bombers in service. Then-Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James stated that the B-21 is a fifth-generation global precision attack platform that will give the United States networked sensor-shoot capability, thus holding targets at risk. At the 2016 Air Warfare Symposium, the LRS-B was formally designated "B-21", signifying the aircraft as the 21st century's first bomber.
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