The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and space launcher developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later used as a medium-lift space launch vehicle to carry payloads for the United States Air Force (USAF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Those payloads included the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), the NOAA weather satellites, and NASA's Gemini manned space capsules. The modified Titan II SLVs (Space Launch Vehicles) were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California up until 2003.

Guidance[edit]
The first Titan II guidance system was built by AC Spark Plug. It used an IMU (inertial measurement unit, a gyroscopic sensor) made by AC Spark Plug derived from original designs from MIT Draper Labs. The missile guidance computer (MGC) was the IBM ASC-15. When spares for this system became hard to obtain, it was replaced by a more modern guidance system, the Delco Universal Space Guidance System (USGS). The USGS used a Carousel IV IMU and a Magic 352 computer.[1]

The Titan rocket family was established in October 1955, when the Air Force awarded the Glenn L. Martin Company a contract to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It became known as the Titan I, the nation's first two-stage ICBM and first underground silo-based ICBM. The Martin Company realized that the Titan I could be further improved and presented a proposal to the U.S. Air Force for an improved version. It would carry a larger warhead over a greater range with more accuracy and could be fired more quickly. The Martin company received a contract for the new missile, designated SM-68B Titan II, in June 1960. The Titan II was 50% heavier than the Titan I, with a longer first stage and a larger diameter second stage. The Titan II also used storable propellants: Aerozine 50, which is a 1:1 mixture of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), and dinitrogen tetroxide. The Titan I, whose liquid oxygen oxidizer must be loaded immediately before launching, had to be raised from its silo and fueled before launch. The use of storable propellants enabled the Titan II to be launched within 60 seconds directly from within its silo. Their hypergolic nature made them dangerous to handle; a leak could (and did) lead to explosions, and the fuel was highly toxic. However, it allowed for a much simpler and more trouble-free engine system than on cryogenically-fueled boosters.


Titan II rocket launch with Clementine spacecraft (25 January 1994)

Titan-II 23G-9 B-107 carrying DMSP-5D3 F-16 Final Titan II launch 18 Oct 2003
The first flight of the Titan II was in March 1962 and the missile, now designated LGM-25C, reached initial operating capability in October 1963. The Titan II contained one W-53 nuclear warhead in a Mark 6 re-entry vehicle with a range of 8,700 nautical miles ~(16,000 kilometres (9,900 mi)). The W-53 had a yield of 9 megatons. This warhead was guided to its target using an inertial guidance unit. The 54 deployed Titan IIs formed the backbone of America's strategic deterrent force until the LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM was deployed en masse during the early to mid-1960s. Twelve Titan IIs were flown in NASA's Gemini manned space program in the mid-1960s.

The Department of Defense predicted that a Titan II missile could eventually carry a warhead with a 35 megaton yield, based on projected improvements. However, that warhead was never developed or deployed. This would have made this warhead one of the most powerful ever, with almost double the power-to-weight ratio of the B41 nuclear bomb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-25C_Titan_II

You know what?  You're both right.  I'm saying this sincerely.  You're both right.  We should have gotten better than we got.

That's right. And that starts in principle, not populism.

I watched Mary Poppins too in my yout.

Udi Etzion


With an all-time high of seven dogfight victories under its wings, Israel Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon No. 107 is being retired and will go on display in the IAF Museum at the Hatzerim air base in the Negev.

 
The fighter plane's story began in the late 1970s, when Iran, then an ally of the United States, placed an order for several dozen of the first F-16s manufactured by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin). Following the ayatollah's rise to power in Iran, however, the deal was scrapped, and Israel jumped at the opportunity and acquired a 75-strong fleet of the fighter aircraft at a bargain price.
outheast of Haifa in northern Israel. The model was given the name "Falcon1980" and each fighter jet was allocated its own number.
 
Over the years since, Fighting Falcon No. 107 became the F-16's all-time dogfight champion (worldwide), having downed seven enemy aircraft - a record unmatched even by the most advanced F-16 models in use today.
 
The Fighting Falcon No. 107 F-16 jet began its history of successful missions on April 21, 1982 when it over threw a Syrian MiG-23 jet with a rocket fired by Colonel in reserves Zeev Raz, who led the bombing of the Iraqi reactor a year before.
 
On June 9, 1982, during the First Lebanon War, the famed F-16 shot down two Syrian MiG-23 planes. One of the two rockets that led to the Syrian planes' demise was launched by former Israel Air Force commander in reserves Eliezer Shakedi and the other rocket was fired by Colonel Eitan Sativa.
 
On June 11, 1982, the No. 107 F-16 jet had its historical day after it shot down two MiG-23 Syrian jets,
a Soveit made Sukhoi Su-17, and an Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter all in one blow by Colonel Eitan Sativa.
 
And that's not all: On June 7, 1981, Fighting Falcon No. 107 participated in the IAF's strike on the Iraqi nuclear reactor, with former Military Intelligence chief Major General (ret.) Amos Yadlin at the controls.
 
"I was No. 2 in the formation and I released my bombs after Ze'ev Raz (who led the strike on the Iraqi reactor)," Yadlin recalls. "In a three-and-a-half-hour sortie, this plane carried out a tactical mission that had historical implications for the Middle East. Its retirement now is definitely a pang, the closing of a chapter."
 
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625569,00.html

What was his other leg called?