BFBS Sitrep

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Award winning Defence podcast from BFBS.

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946 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes946

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Jan 23, 2025 · 35 min
We know what you are doing…
The defence secretary John Healey sends a message to Russia’s President Putin warning him we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country. It’s after a Russian spy ship is spotted for a second time in UK waters. On Sitrep, we discuss the creeping threat of hybrid warfare.Why is the US preparing for potential conflict with China by 2027? Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia, Alessio Patalano, who’s also a visiting fellow at the Royal Navy Centre for Strategic Stu
Jan 16, 2025 · 32 min
Playing catch-up with Artificial Intelligence
The Ministry Of Defence is given a stark warning that it needs to play catch-up and should learn from Ukraine’s use of AI on the battlefield. So what is Ukraine using? What happens if Britain doesn’t get a grip? And what could that mean for our troops on the battlefield? Sitrep’s Ukraine reporter Simon Newton and Assistant Director of the defence team at Rand Europe, James Black, discuss the Defence Committee report. It’s the biggest step up a soldier will make in their
Jan 9, 2025 · 42 min
The UK led fightback against undersea cable-cutters
After a string of attacks against European data and power cables, and undersea pipelines, the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force has activated a new AI powered system to track and monitor suspicious activity from Russian “shadow fleet” ships.But what can the Nordic Warden operation do to stop attacks from happening when something is spotted?  Former Royal Navy Commander Tom Sharpe explains why stepping-in is complicated.The Islamic State terror group may have been territ
Jan 2, 2025 · 19 min
The Moment That Made Me – Kim Hughes
Kim Hughes was a driver in the Army who’d already quit once and was feeling disheartened again.But a moment watching a colleague prepare for a potentially deadly duty in Northern Ireland finally awakened his ambition.He tells James Hirst how that new found drive, a lot of classroom graft, and a childhood fascination with fireworks led to a George Cross for selfless bravery while disarming more than a hundred Taliban bombs in Afghanistan.
Jan 1, 2025 · 23 min
The Moment That Made Me – Captain Ryan Ramsay
Ryan Ramsay spent three years at the helm of a Royal Navy attack submarine, before teaching the next generation of leaders.But he gives big credit to the US Navy, and one particular leader, for helping him reach command after 20 years at sea.Ryan tells James Hirst why a transatlantic exchange was the moment that made him, with insights into leadership styles, the importance of supporting families, and why American submarines are “cool as you like”.
Dec 31, 2024 · 19 min
The Moment That Made Me – Mandy Hickson
When the RAF opened fighter pilot roles to women Mandy Hickson was one of the first in line.The powers that be told her she was a test-case, and a key flying exam threatened to prove their prediction of failure correct.But a moment of inspired teamwork, cycling with her fellow student pilots, transformed her struggles into a pass with flying colours.Mandy tells Kate Gerbeau how that moment made her a pioneer for women in the RAF, and how it shaped her understanding of how
Dec 30, 2024 · 17 min
The Moment That Made Me – Major General Chip Chapman
At the age of 23 Chip Chapman not only went to war for the first time, but also had to lead his platoon into the first fighting of the decisive battle in the Falklands war.When Argentinian forces lost at Goose Green they surrendered and the islands were liberated, but it had been a hard fight that could have gone either way.Chip tells Kate Gerbeau how Goose Green taught him the importance of discipline, cohesion, and always carrying a pistol throughout his 33 years in the Army.<
Dec 29, 2024 · 11 min
The Moment That Made Me – Major Andrew Fox
Andrew Fox always knew he wanted more from his Army career. But poor eyesight kept him out of the Army air corps, and a bad luck injury ended any hope of Special Forces selection.He didn’t give up though, and his moment came when he took on another of the Armed Forces toughest selections. P-Company to join the Parachute Regiment.Andrew talks to Kate Gerbeau about passing the selection and finally finding a regimental home where he belonged.
Dec 28, 2024 · 30 min
The Moment That Made Me – Professor Neil Greenberg
Neil Greenberg is a world leading expert, and practitioner, in military mental health.He signed up to the Royal Navy while still in medical school, then travelled the world on ships and submarines, not just attending to crew health but getting stuck into everything else required of an officer to keep a vessel operating successfully.But it could have been very different, had he not heard a radio interview by chance.Professor Greenberg tells Kate Gerbeau how the medic of a
Dec 27, 2024 · 26 min
The Moment That Made Me – Liz McConaghy
Liz McConaghy joined the RAF on her 19th Birthday and flew on Chinooks for seventeen years.She helped save hundreds of lives on MERT rescue missions for dangerously-wounded troops, during her ten tours of Afghanistan.But saving others lives left a big impact on Liz’s own, and months after leaving the RAF she attempted to end her life.Liz tells Kate Gerbeau why, the moment she woke up in hospital, she chose to live, how it made her into an author, designer and advocate wor
Dec 26, 2024 · 17 min
The Moment That Made Me – Major General Julian Thompson
Julian Thompson had already served thirty years in the Royal Marines when a phone call, in the dead of night, would come to define his career.It brought news of an imminent invasion, and orders to lead 3 Commando Brigade more than seven-thousand miles across the Atlantic, in just a matter of days, to liberate the Falkland Islands.He tells Kate Gerbeau how his first reaction to the call was horror at being so unprepared, but that chaos always reigns and victory goes to whoever so
Dec 25, 2024 · 31 min
The Moment That Made Me – Andy McNab
Andy McNab faced the IRA in Northern Ireland, served on numerous SAS covert operations around the world, and was captured behind enemy lines in Iraq.But he tells Kate Gerbeau the real moment that made him was reading a Janet & John children’s book at the age of 16.It unlocked the Army career which took him away from a life of teenage crime, and eventually led him to becoming a bestselling author of more than 50 books, all thanks to a Sergeant Major who he thought was “the wo
Dec 24, 2024 · 25 min
The Moment That Made Me – Colonel Rosie Stone
Rosie Stone was recording an audio diary at the moment she came under fire on a patrol in Southern Afghanistan.This was her first experience of a combat situation after more than eight years service in the Army.But it became a very different learning experience as she was given shelter and tea by local Afghan women while a gun battle raged behind their compound wall.Rosie shares her recording of that moment with Kate Gerbeau, and explains how that moment shaped her new li
Dec 23, 2024 · 32 min
The Moment That Made Me – Commander Tom Sharpe
On the 16th of December 2008 HMS Endurance suffered a very sudden and catastrophic flood in the South Atlantic.Tom Sharpe was in temporary command of the Royal Navy ice breaker as her engine room filled in less than half an hour, and she lost power in turbulent seas.Tom tells Kate Gerbeau why he ignored advice from the UK to abandon ship, how he led his crew to save the ship from sinking, and how it gave him confidence to lead without being risk averse.
Dec 19, 2024 · 51 min
The Sitrep Crystal Ball 2025
“Please don’t look back, more dangerous times lie ahead which means you need to look forward… so that we are ready if war chooses us”. So says the head of the Army, General Sir Roly Walker, in this special edition of Sitrep explaining what 2025 may bring.Kate Gerbeau and Professor Michael Clarke tackle some of the biggest questions for our defence. Could fighting in Ukraine end, and might British troops be sent as peacekeepers or trainers? Would Russia make a military move
Dec 12, 2024 · 41 min
Sitrep meets Ukrainian troops who invaded Russia
Sitrep’s Simon Newton is back from the frontline of Ukraine’s war with Russia.  He shares stories from troops who led the push into Kursk,  how British Challenger 2 tanks are used (and extremely well hidden), and the challenges of even reaching the frontline.The UK led Joint Expeditionary Force is a British defence success, according to a new study.  But the author Ed Arnold joins us to explain why the JEF is facing a use-it-or-lose-it moment that threatens the credibili
Dec 5, 2024 · 45 min
Inside the UK’s Defence Review
Two architects of the Strategic Defence Review have lifted the lid on how they’re working on the plan for the future of our Armed Forces.But when they tell MP’s one aim is to get it “as least wrong as possible” on predicting future conflicts, does that inspire confidence?  Kate and Mike are joined by Sitrep’s Sian Grzeszczyk Melbourne to analyse what’s been revealed, and what is still shrouded in secrecy.Syria’s civil war appeared dormant for years, but has suddenly reignit
Dec 5, 2024 · 19 min
EXTRA – How 9 years have changed the world
Sitrep talks to the outgoing Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute, Dr. Karin von HippelRUSI has contributed to UK defence & security thinking for almost two centuries, and under Dr. von Hippel’s leadership it’s help the country face threats ranging from the Covid pandemic to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.Before leading RUSI she was a key figure at the US State Department, as Chief-of-Staff to General John Allen who led the global coalition agains
Nov 28, 2024 · 33 min
Where are the red-lines against grey-zone attacks?
Drones buzzing airbases and HMS Queen Elizabeth. Undersea cables cut.  Mysterious parcel fires at air-freight depots.  These have all been described as hybrid, grey-zone, or sub-threshold attacks against the UK and it’s allies.But if they are all below the threshold of an act of war, where does that threshold lie?Sitrep explores the use of deniable attacks, from disruption and disinformation to assassination and bomb plots. How do we defend against them, deter enemies
Nov 28, 2024 · 22 min
EXTRA – Meet the new Chairman of the Commons Defence Committee
From testing whether we’re ready for war to checking whether forces families get the support they need, the Commons Defence Committee plays a key role in overseeing our defence.Kate Gerbeau talks to the man chosen by his fellow MP’s to chair the committee in this Parliament.Tan Dhesi has a background in maths, management science, and running his own construction business.So what does he bring to this important defence role, why did he want the job, and what does he hope t