The several thousand Lockheed Martin employees furloughed due to the partial federal government shutdown will soon return to work now that the government is back in business, announced company officials. “We are pleased that Congress and the [Obama] Administration reached an agreement to end the current US government shutdown,” states an Oct. 17 company release. “Approximately 2,400 furloughed Lockheed Martin employees [will return] . . . to work soon. We expect all US government facilities to open, stop work orders to be lifted, and for our operations to return to normal as soon as our customers are all back in place and have informed us that we may resume many critical programs that were halted during the shutdown,” it states. The 16-day government shutdown reportedly cost the Defense Department more than $600 million.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.