Raytheon -- after securing permission to begin production in late 2017 of the Standard Missile-3 Block IB after years of engineering challenges, repeated technical setbacks and schedule delays -- stumbled right out of the gate last year, delivering only a third of the new guided missile interceptors the U.S. government planned to buy in fiscal year 2018. The delays, disclosed in the Government Accountability Office's annual report on missile defense , marked an inauspicious prelude to the Missile Defense Agency's...
