* At a hearing held by the US House intelligence committee yesterday, NSA/USCYBERCOM director Adm. Michael Rogers said China and a couple other countries (whose name is classified) have the capabilities to possibly shut down critical/industrial systems in the United States such as part of the electric grid. AP | C-Span video (segment 29 minutes in).
US Biz Dev
* NAVAIR is seeking information [FBO] about potential capabilities in the private sector to support Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Performance Based Logistics (PBL) for the Navy, Marines, and FMS users of KC-130Js.
* The US Air Force released a presolicitation [FBO] about C-130J Combined Block 7.0/Block 8.1 retrofits.
Europe
* According to a report [PDF] by the United Nations’ Human Rights office, almost 1,000 people died in Eastern Ukraine in less than 3 months since a “cease fire” agreement was reached.
Middle East
* The US Congress is hesitant to approve armament sales to Iraq given how ISIS was able to capture and use US equipment when it routed Iraqi forces in the spring. Of course there’s a Duffel Blog spoof thank you letter to BAE for that.
Asia
* Japan’s Prime Minister Abe called a snap election to confirm support for his economic policies. If he loses, it may also make a big difference on defense matters. Japan News | CSIS | Economist.
* Philippine President Benigno Aquino said [in Filipino] that the country was on track to meet a PHP91B ($2B) defense modernization plan by 2017, up from what his pronouncement last year.
DoD vs. White House
* Former US defense secretaries Gates and Panetta spoke at the Reagan National Defense Forum earlier this week, and both complained about micromanagement and empty threats coming from their former boss President Obama. Video below: