Air Force has been building its alternate uniform reveals into an event for a decade now, especially when it comes to what they wear against rival Navy, and the 2026 edition leans all the way into the future of American airpower.
The Falcons will wear B-21 Raider uniforms against Navy on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Falcon Stadium, a 10 a.m. MT kickoff that CBS is carrying nationally.
The look pulls from the B-21, the stealth bomber built by Northrop Grumman that the Air Force is positioning as the backbone of its future bomber fleet. This is the tenth Air Power Legacy Series uniform, a program the academy started in 2016 to honor a different aircraft or piece of Air Force history every season.
The design is loaded with detail. The helmet carries B-21 imagery and stealth styling. The jersey adds patches for Air Force Global Strike Command, the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, Air Force Materiel Command, and the 140th Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard. There is a red towel accent that nods to aircraft safety protocols, and the backplates carry messaging on power projection and strategic deterrence.
The B-21 is called the Raider in honor of the Doolittle Raiders and their April 18, 1942 mission over Tokyo, which is why the Air Force bills it as the first bomber of the 21st century. The academy already honored the Doolittle Raiders directly with the 2023 uniform, so there is a nice throughline connecting the two.
Northrop Grumman, the company who builds the aircraft, partnered with the academy on the reveal.
"There's something powerful about seeing the future of American airpower represented on the uniforms of cadets who are themselves the future of our Air Force," said Tom Jones, president of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. The B-21 branding will show up on game-day merchandise and stadium signage as well, and 100 percent of the game-worn gear proceeds go back to the cadet-athletes.
The timing gives Troy Calhoun's group something to rally around. Calhoun, now deep into a tenure that runs through a 2029 extension he signed in 2024, is coming off a 4-9 season in 2025 after a 5-7 finish in 2024. Navy handled the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy race a year ago and edged the Falcons 34-31, so a home date on national TV in these uniforms is a good spot to start closing that gap.
The Air Power Legacy list has gotten deep. F-16 in 2025, Air Force Special Operations Command in 2024, the Doolittle Raiders in 2023, the B-52 in 2021, all the way back to the Tiger Shark in 2016. The B-21 fits right in.
Both Army and Navy always design some impressive alternates each year, but these are going to be tough to beat this year - at least in my eyes.
See more pictures from Air Force, and details behind the alternate unis via this link.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
