Remember the Titan: Barring changes to the schedule, the final Titan IV rocket will blast off from its pad at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Wednesday. Carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the 20-story Titan is being replaced by a new breed of rockets developed under the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.
Raytheon, a division of defense giant RTX, recently announced a multiyear deal with the Pentagon to increase annual production of the Air Force’s primary dogfighting missile by more than 50 percent from two years ago.


