BFBS Sitrep

9 years ago Ukraine’s northern neighbour, Belarus, vocally opposed Russia’s annexation of Crimea and was staunchly a non-nuclear state. Now it’s host to Russian troops, and is just taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons. We explain the U-turn, and ask if it’s the start of a new ‘Soviet Union lite’? NATO’s looking for a new leader, and the UK’s Defence Secretary is seen as one of sever...

With reports of an improvement in Russian battlefield tactics, that certainly could be the case. But, other intel suggests that the difficulties with enforcing discipline amongst junior ranks is actually worsening. On this week’s Sitrep, Professor Michael Clarke will look at a new report which suggests Moscow has indeed, learned from its mistakes and is preparing a major Ukrainian offensive. Also,...

John Nichol’s life was saved by explosives attached to his seat. In 1991 he ejected from a burning RAF Tornado jet, along with pilot John Peters, saving their lives but also leading to their capture by Iraqi forces. In a new book, ‘Eject! Eject!’, John Nichol charts the history of the ejection seat and shares the stories of how it has both saved and changed thousands of people’s lives. He tells Ka...

It looks the Ukraine war is at a tipping point, with a counter-offensive imminent, which would take the war into a significant new phase. Professor Michael Clarke explains how a cat-and-mouse game is already underway along hundreds of miles of front line, and do fresh western weaponry promises deliver what President Zelensky said he was waiting for? Russia’s returned to bombarding Kyiv every 48 ho...

Artificial Intelligence seems to be coming of age, but some of its pioneers are warning AI could soon get out of control. On Sitrep we explain how Britain’s armed forces are already using Artificial Intelligence, and Steve Meers from the AI Lab at DSTL tells us what he’s working on to help servicemen and women in the future. Major Sam McEvoy of the Royal Corps of Signals was involved in the Army’s...

The coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla includes the UK Armed Forces’ biggest ceremony for 70 years. On Sitrep we look at the plans, the rehearsals, and hear from a veteran of the Grenadier Guards about the kind of personal preparations required of 7000 servicemen and women. Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate President Putin in a small-drone strike on the Kremlin. Ukr...

Sitrep hears from someone who played a key part in the journey of King Charles III to his role as commander in chief of the UK’s armed forces. Most of the King’s five years as a serviceman were spent as a pilot, but before he stepped into uniform to fly jets and helicopters he learned to fly a twin-seat single-propellor Chipmunk plane. His instructor was a young Flight Lieutenant, Philip Pinney, w...

Sitrep gets the inside stories from some of the UK’s biggest military decisions of recent years, as we examine the art and politics of command. Former Chief of the Defence Staff, General Lord Richards, explains how he once told David Cameron ‘a term in the cadet force doesn’t qualify you to do my job’, but still had a good working relationship with the PM. And former Defence Secretary, Sir Michael...

Russia has sent a fleet of ships, pretending to be fishing trawlers, to size up our wind farms and power cables for possible attacks according to a new documentary. Professor Michael Clarke explains how the UK is already ramping up its military capabilities to track and deter this kind of Russian activity. An Iraq veteran gives us his verdict on the new book ‘How To Fight a War’ – and its author D...

Do tanks trump technology? Do missiles matter more than manpower? And can the better thinker beat the stronger fighter? Dr Mike Martin’s new book ‘How To Fight A War’ argues that psychology is the key, and that war is as at least as much a conversation as it is a physical battle. The head of the Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, has called the book ‘essential reading’. Dr Martin explains his key...

Sitrep looks behind the headlines of a huge leak of top secret US documents, including on suggesting 50 British special forces troops have been on the ground in Ukraine. Professor Michael Clarke will assess the damage from the leaks, and explain the official ‘health warnings’ on what’s been revealed. Ukraine doesn’t just want western fighter jets, it also wants veteran fighter pilots to join its f...

Air Marshal Richard Knighton has been named as the new Chief of Air Staff. We talk to one of his predecessors, Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford, about what the job involves, the challenges ahead, and what AM Knighton’s leadership will mean for the men and women of the RAF. The NATO/Russia border has just doubled in length as Finland joins the alliance. Will it be a burden or heavy lifter...

It’s spring but there’s no sign yet of the ‘spring offensives’ promised by both sides in Ukraine. They are quietly preparing though. Professor Michael Clarke explains the big movements of Russia’s best troops, and some psychological warfare by Kyiv. A senior officer tells fellow servicewomen they must report sex attacks to police. We ask why some are still not coming forward despite an overha...

Exactly 20 years ago more than 40,000 British troops were deployed on Operation Telic, to invade Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction which did not exist. The legacy of that invasion is complicated, and Sitrep explains how it’s shaped the British Armed Forces of today. General Lord Dannatt, former Chief of General Staff, tells us how it made us more risk-averse, but developed leadership s...

Chris Hunter is a decorated high-threat bomb disposal operator. He had been in Iraq, on operation Telic, for just four days when he was shot in an ambush. Two decades later he lives in the country that nearly claimed his life and works for a charity clearing explosives left by the Islamic State terror group. He tells Kate Gerbeau how he now has friends who may have tried to kill him years ago...

The Chancellor has promised another 11 billion pounds for Defence over the next five years, but after soaring inflation and big donations to Ukraine how much extra is left over? Professor of Defence Studies Michael explains what it means for the spending power of Defence, and what it might mean for the future of British Forces as a new masterplan for their size and shape is drawn up. We also take...

Ukrainian troops are having to risk their lives, crossing icy waters, to defend small islands used for little more than holiday homes. We hear why these small marshy patches of land are strategically crucial to protecting Ukraine’s biggest gain so far in the war, while Professor Michael Clarke explains the latest developments across the country. The UK’s creating a new Arctic operations base, and...

The World War 2 RAF pilots, dubbed ‘The Few’ by Winston Churchill, could not have achieved all that they did without the support of a huge intelligence operation. But as more and more men had to go to the front, that intelligence work was increasingly taken on by women, despite huge initial resistance and scepticism from military leaders. Sarah Louise Miller tells us their story, researched in new...

The Army’s modernisation masterplan relies on Ajax, a new armoured vehicle that is already 6 years late, and has injured some troops with noise and vibration. As the Defence Secretary says that’s all been solved, Professor Michael Clarke explains why Ajax is so important and we talk to Conservative MP Mark Francois about why he wants to hear from troops involved in the Ajax trials. Also this week...

Ukrainian journalist Maryana Drach tells Sitrep her experiences of living through a year of war in her country. The loss of her friend and colleague, Vira Hyrych, in a missile strike on an apartment block, witnessing destruction in her home city, and her team’s drive to expose atrocities. She also tells us about the latest assessments of public opinion in Ukraine, her thoughts on how the war may e...

12 months on from Russia’s full scale invasion Sitrep assesses how Ukraine defied predictions that it would lose in days – and instead pushed back Moscow’s forces. Three experienced British military minds explain who’s got what right, and wrong, and the lessons the UK should learn from all this.  Daily Telegraph correspondent Colin Freeman tells us what the battlefield picture looks like goin...

After three more mystery objects were found flying over North America and shot down, the Defence Secretary has ordered a security review of British Airspace. Have they already flown over us, and have we been looking for them? Sitrep asks a former RAF Operations Commander. Hundreds of British troops are helping to defend Estonia, a country that has sent its entire Howitzer artillery stock to Ukrain...

Servicemen and women, along with veterans, are often called heroes – it’s well intentioned, but is that label helpful or harmful. Sitrep talks to a US psychologist who says it could drive veterans towards lower paid ‘selfless’ jobs, a leading military psychiatrist and a founder of the charity Help for Heroes. The UK is promising to train Ukrainian fighter pilots, but says it can’t send fighter jet...

The Defence Secretary says his own party has ‘hollowed out’ the forces while in government, but one of his fellow ministers says that’s ‘patently untrue’. Sitrep assesses if this is this a civil-war in the cabinet over Defence spending, and if so why? The Defence Secretary says Labour shares the blame for hollowing out, we talk to the Shadow Armed Forces Minister. Buying Russian missiles, skirmish...

As the Taliban continue to prevent women and some girls from working or having an education an all party group has been established in Westminster to monitor the situation. Sitrep also talks to a former female politician who fled the country and the wife of a former CDS who started an education charity in the country. More tanks are being sent to Ukraine but will they make a difference and how wil...