Lockheed Martin announced on Monday that the return to work of most of the Pentagon’s civilian workforce would reduce the number of employees that the company must place on a temporary furlough. Due to the partial federal government shutdown, Lockheed Martin initially estimated that it would have to furlough nearly 3,000 of its employees. Now, with most DOD civilians coming back to work on Oct. 7, the company “will still have approximately 2,400 employees unable to work,” including 300 who work on Defense Department programs, states the company’s release. These 2,400 employees are spread over 27 states, with the majority of them based in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, according to the company.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.