* Republicans in Congress are trying again the piecemeal approach that succeeded after sequestration started kicking in, but it is unclear that this tactic will work this time around. So far these partial funding bills failed in the House of Representatives, but the coming debt ceiling is going to refocus everyone’s attention very soon. Democrats hope that public opinion will put most of the blame on Republicans and further increase the tension within the party between its Tea Party members and more mainstream politicians.
* House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon [R-CA] thinks the Pentagon could keep more of its civilian employees working instead of sending them home.
* The US Navy’s 4 public shipyards furlough thousands, restrict work to critical maintenance.
* Yesterday we mentioned a DTRA industry day being postponed because of the government shutdown. Later in the day SPAWAR also cancelled an industry day that was to be dedicated to international C4I opportunities. However, this seems to occur on a case-by-base basis, so double-check the scheduling of any event you intended to attend. The Navy’s Electronic Warfare Infrastructure Improvement Program (EWIIP) Decision Analysis Support (DAS) industry day will proceed as expected tomorrow and Friday.
* The US Department of Defense is not publishing contract awards on its website throughout the shutdown, though awards continue to trickle through FBO.gov and the FPDS-NG system (note that the latter delays the publication of DoD contract actions by 3 months unless you have the proper credentials).
* Until recently the US Army thought their final RFP for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) would be ready by mid-September. Instead, they have just released another draft RFP [PDF] and will accept feedback until October 15. Funding for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the program tentatively starts with $70M in FY15, for a total of $457M over 5 years. The subsequent Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) phase would have between $244M and $505M, depending on what option prevails.
* The Pentagon has issued an interim rule amending defense acqusition regulation to implement statutory amendments to whistleblower protections for contractor and subcontractor employees.
* Several American lawmakers are working on legislation to reform the National Security Agency (NSA), but they have conflicting goals. Some want to preserve the NSA’s powers with a bit of extra transparency to placate critics; some want to curtail these powers; and some want to expand these powers further. The Senate Intelligence Committee postponed a closed panel that was scheduled tomorrow to discuss the issue.
* Russian president Vladimir Putin may want to re-arm his country, but he has a fractious industry to contend with. At least now soldiers are issued socks rather than wrapping cloths.
* The Argentine government confirmed its intent to buy 16 used Mirage F-1Ms from Spain, to replace even older Mirage IIIs which were also bought used 31 years ago.
* Arun Kumar Bal, a senior acquisition official at the Indian Ministry of Defence, died of a heart attack at age 52. He was in charge of the MMRCA program and of the investigation into alleged corruption in the VVIP helicopter deal with AgustaWestland.
* Forward Operating Base Sharana – once a busy site – barely escaped destruction earlier this year but the FOB (and its USO) is closing down, as the video below shows vividly:
