* Similarly to his predecessor Robert Gates, US SecDef Leon Panetta told NATO members that they would have to step up defense spending otherwise the alliance would “hollow out” [DOD transcript]. Meanwhile British defense secretary Liam Fox lambasted as duplicate “nonsense” proposals to increase defense integration at the European Union level.
* Spain is joining NATO’s missile defense system which leads Russia to make grumpy noises. 4 Aegis ships will be stationed at the US-funded Naval Station Rota.
* RAND researched how Australia, France and the UK have structured their international defense cooperation efforts [PDF].
* The Institute for the Study of War published a report on Iran’s recent naval reorganization [PDF]. The move towards more procurement self-sufficiency, and base realignment and openings, show the country’s intent to increase its strategic depth and its operational reach.
* Canada’s Department of National Defence explains how it estimates hourly flying costs. Somewhat related: the US DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition
Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to clarify the requirements for the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) to submit data other than certified cost or pricing data. CCC administers most DoD contracts with contractors located in Canada.
* Speaking of DFARS, its latest change revises the definition of “qualifying country end product.” The updated rule “eliminates the component test for qualifying country end products that are commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items.” This MS Word document shows where the rule’s language was updated.
* The US House Republican Cybersecurity Task Force is making a series of cybersecurity recommendations [PDF] that include updates to federal and defense acquisition regulations. Among several recent leadership changes at the DoD, Eric Rosenbach has been appointed deputy assistant secretary of Defense for cyber policy.
* Wind farms can affect air defense radars but this can be mitigated, says a report prepared by Atkins Limited last year for the British government, and now released publicly in a sanitized format [ZIP file with 3 redacted PDFs inside].