Spectacle Sans Substance
On 02 December 2022, the United States Air Force rolled out its new, long-range, intercontinental, stealth, strategic bomber during a nighttime ceremony contrived to obfuscate details of the aircraft’s design and capabilities. The event, which coincided serendipitously with a new report on Chinese military capabilities, provided a dramatic backdrop against which senior Pentagon officials proclaimed the new bomber—Northrop Grumman’s B-21—the cornerstone of American deterrence capability for decades to come.