BFBS Radio Sitrep

British forces on patrol in Mali in West Africa as part of the UN Peacekeeping mission there. The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sends a warning to Russia as he arrives in Ukraine for talks. The new museum that marks the role of logistics in campaigns from Agincourt to Afghanistan.

HMS Queen Elizabeth and her carrier strike group prepare for a deployment to the Indo-Pacific. Find out how paratroopers are being trained to fight on the urban battlefield. Why has Australia announced a large increase in defence spending?

Cyberspace has been described as the most contested domain – so how will the new National Cyber Force defend the UK? Sitrep speaks to the head of Strategic Command, General Sir Patrick Sanders. A former British ambassador to Moscow speaks to Sitrep about President Putin’s State of the Nation speech and concerns over Russian troops gathering on the borders of Ukraine. Also this week, how a military charity is helping frontline healthcare workers cope with the stress of dealing with Covid.

Sitrep hears from a former UK ambassador to Kabul and our panel of defence experts on the future for Afghanistan post NATO withdrawal; The programme looks at the Duke of Edinburgh's connections with the armed forces and his wartime service in the Royal Navy; And find out how an inventor is adapting a vehicle to help protect troops against explosions.

Sitrep examines UK military plans for Space; We hear from a former NATO ambassador on growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine; Why the Red Arrows, a Lancaster and a Vulcan will feature in a stained glass window.

(Title) Chief of the Defence Staff interview The CDS Gen Sir Nick Carter speaks exclusively to Sitrep about Army numbers, recruitment for the Rangers Regiment, the future of the Reserve Force, the need for change and new technologies, and the nature of the threats facing the UK.

After another huge week for UK Defence, Sitrep assesses how the plans in the Defence Command Paper will change the Army, the RAF and the Navy. Sitrep has detailed analysis from a range of experts on what's been described as the biggest review of Defence since the end of the Cold War.

Analysis and expert commentary on the Integrated Review - described as the biggest Review of Defence and Security policy since the Cold War -with former CDS Lord Richards, Professor Michael Clarke, Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government and chair of the For Affairs Comm Tom Tugendhat. Also, flexible working in the armed forces with MOD's Helen Helliwell and Royal Marines on night exercises.

The MoD says the military has “changed enormously” — but while women make up around 1-in-10 Army personnel — some say they face a “hostile environment” if they complain about bullying or harassment. As MPs start to look at issues around sexism in the military, we speak to one campaigner who says action is needed. We look at a new report that says deaths in terrorist attacks rose sharply last year, even though the number of attacks fell — and we hear about the most likely future threats. Why are so many veterans from Commonwealth countries struggling to secure the right to stay in the UK? An England rugby star tells us about his father’s experience. And we look ahead to the publication of the integrated review of defence, foreign affairs and security, and find out what to look out for.

Why has Britain halved its promise of aid to Yemen, scene of the world’s worst humanitarian disaster? The Prime Minister says aid must fall because of the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic, but on this week’s Sitrep we hear from a former Cabinet minister who’s been to Yemen to see for himself the devastation threatening the country’s population. Could a humanitarian catastrophe become a security crisis, radicalising a generation of Yemeni men? We report on a new study that suggests an alternative theory for the series of illnesses collectively described as Gulf War Syndrome. Plus as a report says the US must invest more in developing autonomous weapons, we hear from an academic campaigning for a worldwide ban on so-called “killer robots”. And we’re in Cyprus, where the coronavirus vaccine roll-out has started among the British military community there.