BFBS Sitrep

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Award winning Defence podcast from BFBS.

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946 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes946

Newest first

Nov 25, 2024 · 30 min
NELSON: Legend Forged in Battle, with Professor Michael Clarke and Dr Gregory Fremont-Barnes.
BFBS Forces News presents ‘Great British Battle Commanders’ hosted by Professor Michael Clarke, Sitrep’s defence analyst, assessing the leadership and strategy of Admiral Lord Nelson with Dr Gregory Fremont-Barnes, author of several books on Nelson and his Navy, and senior lecturer in war studies at RMAS. The interview is recorded in Nelson’s cabin on HMS Victory in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.Nelson GlossaryCuthbert Collingwood Admiral
Nov 21, 2024 · 49 min
1000 days on - are Ukraine and Russia locked into a war of attrition?
Russia thought it would conquer Ukraine in 10 days, Ukrainian resolve is still preventing that.  But after more than a million casualties on both sides, thousands of pieces of military hardware destroyed, will it simply come down to which side can outlast the other? Sitrep’s Simon Newton and Hannah King join us from Kyiv to share how the people, and their resolve, are holding up, while Professor Michael Clarke analyses the battlefield picture. If it
Nov 21, 2024 · 27 min
EXTRA – Surprise defence cuts explained.
The Defence Secretary has announced that more than 30 helicopters will be retired early, along with 5 ships, and 46 drones, all of them he calls ‘outdated capabilities’.Most significant, after years of ‘will they, won’t they’, the Royal Marines amphibious assault ships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, get the axe. Critics call it a black day for the Marines but the Defence Secretary insists they have a bright future.So which is it? Professor Michael Clarke explains how each of the c
Nov 18, 2024 · 40 min
MONTGOMERY – Unbeatable and Unbearable? With Professor Michael Clarke and General Lord Richards, former Chief of the Defence Staff.
BFBS Forces News presents ‘Great British Battle Commanders’ hosted by Professor Michael Clarke, Sitrep’s defence analyst, assessing the leadership and strategy of Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery with the former Chief of the Army and former Chief of the Defence Staff, General Lord Richards. The interview is recorded in the D-Day Map Room at Southwick House, outside Portsmouth, which was the nerve centre for Operation Overlord. Glossary for AudioGeneral Dwight
Nov 14, 2024 · 34 min
North Korea and Russia join forces
First it was sending ammunition, then troops for the war in Ukraine, now North Korea has signed off on a formal mutual-defence treaty with Russia.NATO’s new Secretary General has called it a threat to our security. Defence researcher Joseph Dempsey, who’s spent years uncovering the secrets of North Korea’s military, explains the risk, and what’s in it for Moscow and Pyongyang.On the Korean peninsula shots have been fired across the border, more missiles have been tested, and the
Nov 11, 2024 · 31 min
BOUDICA - Warrior Queen, with Professor Michael Clarke and Philip Wise, Heritage Manager for Colchester Museums.
BFBS Forces News presents ‘Great British Battle Commanders’ hosted by Professor Michael Clarke, Sitrep’s defence analyst, assessing the leadership and strategy of Boudica, Queen of the Iceni. The interview is recorded in Colchester Castle, Essex, which was built on the foundations of the Roman Temple that was sacked and burnt by Boudica’s forces in AD 60.
Nov 7, 2024 · 44 min
Trump 2.0 – reality vs rhetoric
On the campaign trail Donald Trump said Russia should “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies who underspend on defence, while attacking his former top military officer as a “traitor” who should be hanged.Is this going to be the reality of his second term in the White House? And what does it mean for Ukraine - an end to vital military aid or a new determination that Russia can’t be seen to win?Former UK National Security Adviser, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, and former Commandi
Nov 4, 2024 · 34 min
DOWDING – The Man behind ‘The Few’, with Professor Michael Clarke and Dr Victoria Taylor
BFBS Forces News presents ‘Great British Battle Commanders’ hosted by Professor Michael Clarke, Sitrep’s defence analyst, assessing the leadership and strategy of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding with aviation historian, Dr Victoria Taylor. The interview is recorded in Dowding’s former office in Bentley Priory, Stanmore, which was Headquarters Fighter Command during the Second World War.
Oct 31, 2024 · 41 min
The budget boost for defence explained.
The chancellor has promised an extra £2.9bn for defence next year, but what does that actually mean for our armed forces?Professor Malcolm Chalmers explains why it amounts to a small increase in spending power and not the step change many want, but why that could still come down the line.Amid reports that the UK’s top military officer could get sweeping new powers General Lord Richards tells us how, when he had the job, he had to explain to the Prime Minister that the Chief of D
Oct 31, 2024 · 36 min
WELLINGTON - Master of Strategy, with Professor Michael Clarke and author Bernard Cornwell
BFBS Forces News presents ‘Great British Battle Commanders’ hosted by Professor Michael Clarke, Sitrep’s defence analyst, assessing the leadership and strategy of the Duke of Wellington with the best-selling author of the ‘Sharpe’ and ‘Last Kingdom’ novels Bernard Cornwell. The interview is recorded in Wellington’s former office in Horse Guards, now used as the office of the General Officer Commanding HQ London District.Based on his book ‘Great British Commanders,’ Mike will be asking
Oct 24, 2024 · 39 min
How Afghanistan shapes today’s Armed Forces
It’s 10 years since British troops left Helmand and combat operations came to an end. But the conflict reshaped the forces in ways that can still be seen today.The next war is expected to involve tanks and trenches not seen in Helmand, so from equipment to military mindsets Sitrep assesses what is helpful to still have, what is a hinderance, and what gaps may exist.150,000 British personnel served in Afghanistan. A handful of those veterans tell us how that experience shapes the
Oct 17, 2024 · 36 min
Sitrep LIVE – The future of NATO
Admiral Sir Keith Blount, who is the most senior British officer in NATO, talks to Sitrep’s Claire Sadler and Professor Michael Clarke from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium.He explains alliance thinking and actions on key topics including NATO's future, technology developments, the Ukraine war and the threat posed by Russia and China.Allied personnel were in attendance for the first Sitrep Live podcast.Admiral Sir Keith took up the ro
Oct 17, 2024 · 25 min
EXTRA – Remembering General Sir Mike Jackson
Across 45 years of service General Sir Mike Jackson played a key role in many historic moments for Britain’s armed forces, even before he led the Army as Chief of the General Staff.Known to all simply as Jacko he is best remembered for defying his US commanding officer in Kosovo by saying “I’m not going to start World War Three for you”.  He did not get sacked, but did get the Distinguished Service Order.Sitrep hears new insights from that incident along with memories and t
Oct 10, 2024 · 48 min
Are human rights laws harming our military?
Our armed forces put their lives on the line to protect the rule of international law and ordinary people’s human rights. But some believe those rights and laws are disproportionately affecting our troops and military decision makers.Sitrep talks to two SAS veterans who explain why they want the UK to opt-out of part of the European Convention on Human Rights, and we get expert legal opinion from Joshua Rozenberg about whether that’s possible and how much difference it would make.<
Oct 3, 2024 · 41 min
Operation Shader to end, so what next?
Almost exactly 10 years since Operation Shader began RAF strikes against the Islamic State terror group ministers say it will be drawn down in favour of a new security partnership.But what form should that take, and is this the right time given everything else happening in the Middle East? Sitrep gets the thoughts of former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.We also assess Iran’s weapons and military capability, along with what it tells us about the risk of a wider regional wa
Sep 26, 2024 · 38 min
Sandhurst’s radical process to modernise
The Army’s world-renowned Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is undertaking a radical process to modernise. It’s conducting what it calls a ‘Critical Mass Trial’ – huge efforts to ramp up the numbers of women in its platoons in response to a tragedy at the Academy. BFBS Forces News has been given rare and exclusive access to Sandhurst and has documented it in a new series produced by Rosie Laydon who talks to Sitrep. Something that’s really getting people fired up in the military is
Sep 26, 2024 · 23 min
EXTRA – Unknown warrior
More than a hundred years after the First World War, more than half a million soldiers are still missing, a third of whom are thought to be buried as ‘unknown’. Two years after the end of the Great War, The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was established at Westminster Abbey and has served as a focal point for the public’s grief ever since.Former Tornado Navigator and bestselling author John Nichol talks to Kate Gerbeau about the history of the tomb and the painstaking efforts
Sep 19, 2024 · 29 min
Lebanon device explosions – what will the British military be thinking?
Lebanon is on edge after thousands of Hezbollah electronic devices exploded across two days. Many people have died and thousands are injured. Former Army Intelligence Officer Philip Ingram explains how the plan was coordinated and what militaries  learn from these attacks.Russia has lost at least 15 warships since its full scale invasion of Ukraine but it hasn’t stopped it carrying out significant maritime exercises and launching a new department to strengthen its power at sea.</p
Sep 12, 2024 · 45 min
The cost of helping Ukraine – less training for British soldiers
More than 40,000 Ukrainians have had military training in the UK since Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country, but that’s made it harder for the Army to access its own training areas with bids now eight times more likely to be rejected.Former Royal Navy Commodore Steve Prest explains why the UK thinks it’s a price worth paying, for now.The UK led Joint Expeditionary Force is now a decade old. Professor Michael Clarke explains how this “alliance within an alliance” didn’t
Sep 12, 2024 · 26 min
EXTRA – The Iranian Embassy Siege First Hand.
It remains an iconic piece of news footage and now historian Ben MacIntyre, the man behind SAS Rogue Heroes, has been given permission to talk to the men who took part in the operation to end the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980.Some of them have never spoken openly about the mission until now and these personal accounts detail the build-up, planning and execution of Operation Nimrod.Ben MacIntyre talks to Kate Gerbeau about the myths, the legends and ultimately th