Furlough Recall
* There’s still no agreement in Washington to resolve the government shutdown as it starts its 2nd week, but the Pentagon is recalling most of the 350,000 civilian employees it had furloughed. Specific numbers should come later today. Here are the Navy employee categories that are not to return to work.
* Lockheed Martin will still have about 2,400 people who can’t work because of the shutdown, down from the 3,000 employees the company had identified for furlough on Friday. Meanwhile UTC cancelled its furlough plans.
* This should hopefully put an end to industry day cancellations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host an Industry Day for construction work related to the KC-46A tanker on October 24 in Wichita, KS. They have a large construction contract coming for hangars.
American-Afghan Apparent Impasse
* Back in July Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey hoped the US would reach a post-2014 security agreement with Afghanistan by October. This however is looking increasingly unlikely as the negotiators remain far apart on important points. Similar talks with Iraq collapsed for different reasons in 2011, and the country looks again on the verge of a civil war. What will Afghanistan look like if all NATO troops leave it?
While China Makes Central-Asian Deals
* The Chinese are ramping up massive energy infrastructure investments in Central Asia all across the “Stan” countries.
US Navy: NAVSEA Outlook; Fleet Spreadsheet
* The US Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command updated its strategic business plan [PDF] to cover the 2013-18 period, with a strong emphasis on cost control and affordability.
* The CNA (Cripes, No Acronym) research organization released its March 2013 iteration [XLS] of its Integrated Ship Database, reflecting the fact an additional 4 FFG 7 frigates and 1 MCM are on their way to disposal while the Virginia-class SSN 785 is under construction.
India’s VVIP Deal
* AgustaWestland is seeking arbitration to resolve the suspension of payments by India over allegations of corruption around a contract for 12 helicopters.
Commercial Space Flight Pioneers
* The US Naval Institute hosted a panel on the future of commercial space flight last week. Video below: