BFBS Sitrep

After her husband and future Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Richards deployed to Afghanistan Lady Caroline Richards wanted to do something to improve the lives of children in the country so she set up a charity. Shukria Barakzai is a former Member of the Afghan Parliament who fled the country when the Taliban took back control. And an All Party Parliamentary Group for Afghan Women and Girls was l...

As the UK sends tanks and artillery guns to Ukraine the head of the Army has conceded it will temporarily weaken the service. That’s on top of Army cuts announced in 2021, which are now being reviewed. Sitrep talks to two former officers to assess what rebuilding the Army needs, and how it can be done. NATO’s top military commander has declared “hard power is a reality” – but who was his message a...

British troops could be deployed to Japan – and Japanese troops to the UK – under an historic treaty that’s just been signed at the Tower of London On Sitrep a former Japanese Foreign Minister explains why her country has turned to the UK to bolster its defence position. After a year of appeals, western tanks could soon be headed to Ukraine, led by British Challenger 2s. A former tank regimen...

Scotty Mills had an incredible 32 year career in the Royal Marines, but it only happened because he wanted to get out of the rain one day. He led a daring mission in the opening moments of the Iraq war, has helped England football and Rugby players reach international glory, and marched on the world stage at London 2012. Scotty tells Kate Gerbeau how he learned a Royal Marines mindset for success,...

Sitrep looks ahead at what 2023 may have in store for the UK’s armed forces. Where might they find themselves sent and why? We also dig into new figures which show the forces are shrinking again – because people are leaving significantly faster than they’re joining. After a year dominated by war between Ukraine and Russia, we assess what will happen next on the battlefield, and in the Kremlin. And...

How much can you remember from a truly historic year? How many days did Russia plan for fighting in Ukraine, and how long has it actually been going on? Just how many munitions is Ukraine firing every day in its fightback? Sitrep tests a panel of experts on the numbers that spell out the scale of Europe’s biggest war since the 1940s, and the stories from elsewhere that have been overshadowed. What...

More than a thousand servicemen and women who might have expected to celebrate Christmas at home are now standing by to cover for striking workers. The PM says we owe them gratitude, but after two years of Covid work over the festive season is the goodwill of the Armed Forces being stretched? The head of the Armed Forces says the UK must ‘think big’ on the future of defence, after the invasion of...

Billions have been spent sending weapons and equipment to help Ukraine over the last 10 months. Sitrep hears from the logistics team at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois about how contributions from the United States reach Europe. The programme hears that lessons learnt from the evacuation from Kabul about information sharing have helped with their current Ukraine operation. And what advice are the...

Fragments of a soviet era missile, designed for nuclear war, have been found in Ukraine. Russia appears to be firing the AS-15 Kent with ballast instead of a warhead. Sitrep explains why Moscow is using these expensive missiles as decoys. As a new zero-tolerance policy comes into effect in the forces, for unacceptable sexual behaviour, we ask Sarah Atherton MP whether it delivers the change she’s...

Some soldiers are turning to food banks, or looking for second jobs, as they try to cope with soaring bills and prices. Sitrep talks to the Army’s most senior soldier about how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting the men and women he represents, as he appeals to those struggling to speak up and explains what help the service can give. Inflation has also effectively wiped billions of pounds out...

Sitrep talks to the British Army’s most senior soldier, whose job is to keep top brass in touch with the experiences of the men and women of the army. WO1 Paul Carney tells James Hirst the big issues that are affecting soldiers, and how he’s trying to ensure commanders understand them. He also talks about drawing on his own family’s experience of sexual harassment in the drive to end ‘unacceptable...

The missile that killed two people in a Polish village was almost immediately reported as being Russian, but now is put down to an ‘unfortunate accident’ as Ukraine defended itself. Sitrep explains how we got to that important truth before a major misjudgement was made. We also reports from Poland where hundreds of British troops deployed to help the NATO ally have been on exercise. And we assess...

Ukraine has achieved its biggest victory since the early days of the war by liberating the city of Kherson from 8 months of occupation. But what comes next? In this extra edition of Sitrep we hear from Kherson where residents are celebrating, to a background of artillery fire. We also talk in detail to the former top military commander of NATO, General Philip Breedlove, about what moves we can exp...

Russia has ordered its troops to abandon the strategically important city of Kherson, but don’t expect Ukrainian troops to march straight back in. Sitrep explains why, what happens next, and what traps Russia may be leaving in Kherson. We also witness UK training that’s turning Ukrainian citizens into soldiers in the space of five weeks. The US midterm elections have been a political tremor, rathe...

Britain is bringing home hundreds of extra troops who’ve bolstered the UK’s presence in Estonia since the invasion of Ukraine. But the government says it’s improving capabilities in other ways, with weapons and equipment. Sitrep asks if it’s enough to deter Russia and defend the Baltic state if needed. It was the end of last winter when Ukraine was invaded, now as winter approaches again how...

Russia has used top-level diplomatic channels to tell the west Ukraine is planning a radioactive ‘dirty bomb’ attack on its own soil. Sitrep asks why the west is convinced it’s ‘transparently false’, what Russia’s trying to achieve with this claim, and whether it has endangered channels meant to prevent a catastrophic miscalculation. Russian men ordered to fight in Ukraine have been venting t...

There’s been much outrage about 30 British veterans been who’ve training Chinese fighter pilots, and the government is promising a legally backed ban on helping ‘enemy’ forces. BFBS Sitrep digs deeper into the story, including official British defence links to China, and asks a former senior RAF officer if this is a little more complex than it first appears. Russia has been using a ‘kamikaze drone...

The histories of World War Two were largely written by men, because they were almost exclusively the ones who experienced it at the front lines. But a handful of remarkable women defied official bans, and went to the battlefields as war reporters. In this extra edition of BFBS Sitrep we hear at length from Judith Mackrell=about her new book ‘Going With The Boys’ =, which tells the stories of six o...

Russia has fired half-a-billion dollars worth of missiles at Ukraine in just one day, after a blast destroyed part of its bridge to Crimea. The Kremlin calls it ‘revenge’. BFBS Sitrep assesses whether it does anything to advance Moscow’s war effort, or damages it by wasting vital weapons. Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine has a new commander, nicknamed ‘General Armageddon’. We look at his trac...

After what looks like a ‘grey zone’ attack on gas-pipelines the UK is rapidly buying two new Royal Navy ships. But how can they protect critical energy supplies, and communication cables, which can be miles below the surface of the sea? President Putin might now be using actions to reinforce his words that he’s ‘not bluffing’ about nuclear weapons, but if he does use them can we respond without st...

The Ministry of Defence has admitted "some mistakes were made" after reports of a recruitment drive favouring women and ethnic minorities. BFBS Sitrep hears the opinions of a former female RAF fighter pilot and asks a legal expert what is and isn’t acceptable when you’re trying to reach diversity targets. And - the untold stories of Colditz prisoner of war camp… what really happened there behind t...

The whole programme is devoted to the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian ambassador to the UK tells Sitrep that President Putins’s announcement that Russia is mobilising around 300 thousand military reservists is a sign he feels he might be losing the war. He also tells the programme that President Putin is blackmailing the international community by appearing to raise the threat of nuclear weapon...

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was Commander in Chief of the UK’s Armed Forces for just over 70 years, now that job falls to her eldest son. BFBS Sitrep talks to a former head of The Army who knows King Charles III well, and we listen to one of his recent speeches to troops to assess what kind of Commander in Chief he will be. As we examine The Queen’s military legacy we talk to Sharon Turton abou...

Liz Truss promised big on Defence in her campaign to replace Boris Johnson – now she has to deliver. BFBS Sitrep assesses what a big uplift in the defence budget could be spent on, how she will handle the Ukraine war, and whether the forces are facing another shake up. Russia expected to win in Ukraine within days, six months on it needs millions more rockets and shells and it’s turned to North Ko...

A former member of the SBS shares his remarkable story with BFBS Sitrep. It was Toby Gutteridge’s dream job, but then it tore his life apart. He was shot in the neck in Afghanistan, leaving him paralysed. 13 years on he runs his own clothing business, and has just written his autobiography. From getting selected for special forces, through the incident that almost killed him, to a breakdown and re...