BFBS Sitrep

The Royal Navy, already thinly stretched, is now sending HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Duncan to the High North, while HMS Dragon heads in the other direction to loiter for a possible mission in the Strait of Hormuz. Both high profile deployments come with some big questions. Is an aircraft carrier the best way to deter Russian submarines? And if Dragon is waiting for an end to fighting between the US and Iran, what job for it to do there? Retired Commodore Steve Prest explains the likely tasks for each vessel and their crews, while Professor Michael Clarke assess how the Royal Navy will manage the workload just as it’s at the toughest point of a long term transformation. 

Ukraine has amassed so much battlefield footage from drones that it would take more than 200 years to watch. Now it’s using that footage, with machine learning, to teach drones to become more lethal.Simon Newton explains how the country has made breakthroughs that allow the devices to identify not only potential targets, but also their most vulnerable spots.The work could also have benefits for the UK with talk that massive pool of training data could be shared with allies.But does this put us on an unstoppable path to machines making life and death decisions on the battlefield? Dr. Matthew Powell, from the RAF College Cranwell, explains the practical and ethical dilemmas.

Across three decades Rose Gottemoeller has had a ringside seat at key moments in the changing relationship between Russia, the US, and allies like the UK.As a former Deputy Secretary General of NATO and U.S. Undersecretary of State she’s seen the highs, as well as the lows.Rose talks to Kate Gerbeau about those experiences, and the driving mission behind her new book “Security Through Cooperation”In it she sets out to debunk President Putin’s narrative that the US is determined to destroy Russia, and shares memories from her own time in Moscow.

Three decades since the end of the troubles the legacy on Northern Ireland is affecting today’s Armed Forces, with growing talk it’s damaging recruitment and driving some to leave service.The Northern Ireland Secretary promised additional protections for veterans to help as the save his legacy bill from running out of parliamentary time, but it remains hugely divisive.Sitrep explains the complexities of laying the past to rest in way that could satisfy all, and asks one veteran why he favours an end to prosecutions over courtroom justice for victims and families, including hundreds of soldiers. And as HMS Victory has its masts carefully removed in a painstaking operation we talk to the man charged with preserving this icon of British military history.  

As the western military intervention in Afghanistan draws to an end, Sitrep looks back at the last 20 years, and asks what it will mean in the future. A former head of the Army tells us about “frustrating” conversations with ministers at the height of the fighting, while an MP who served in Afghanistan warns withdrawal will alarm Britain’s allies. We get an update from Kabul, and we hear how a small town became the focal point for Britain’s tribute to the lives lost in the conflict.

Presented by Kate Gerbeau with Christopher Lee.