BFBS Sitrep

There are only so many weapons in the world to go round, so the laws of supply and demand leave Ukraine struggling even more to get what it desperately needs.
And Russia’s been thrown an economic lifeline by a double whammy of surging gas and oil prices, along with weakened sanctions.
Professor Michael Clarke explains how all this will impact the battlefield, and Colin Freeman gives us insights from his latest visit to Ukraine.
Also on Sitrep, some of Britain’s top Army officers are reshuffled in the name of strengthening our contribution to NATO. Lieutenant General Sir Simon Mayall, former Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, tells all about the jobs and people involved.

The UK ramped up its air power in and around the Middle East before the Iran war, but the fact it took nearly a fortnight to deploy an air-defence destroyer has put military capability and readiness firmly in the spotlight.
Sitrep explains the rhetoric and the reality as political opponents accuse the Prime Minister of failing to prepare and sitting on his hands.
Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, who helped write the Chilcot Report into the Iraq war, tells Sitrep why he thinks the US operation is “stunningly irresponsible”, and the UK got it right by staying on the sidelines.
And Mike explains how warnings about the just how thinly spread the Armed Forces are now being seen in action.

The Royal Navy deploys a destroyer to the Mediterranean to bolster defences in the region, amidst a war in the Middle East.
But HMS Dragon won’t set sail until next week and it will take days to get there.
The question on most observers' lips is - why did it take so long? and is our response a bit late and a bit underwhelming?
Also on Sitrep …. What are the 6 crises predicted to converge, making it the most unstable global time since the second world war?

As Ukraine fights its war for survival alone on the battlefield, the UK has announced new sanctions against Russia to throttle the supply of money into Putin's war machine.
But can it work, and persuade Moscow to get serious about peace talks? Economist and Russia expert Timothy Ash runs us through the numbers.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard tells Sitrep the UK is considering “further tactics” against Russia’s shadow fleet transporting sanctioned oil. Mike explains why he doesn’t expect to see Royal Marines roping onto tankers any time soon.
And Simon Newton has been looking through combat videos from Ukraine, with former Paras Major Andrew Fox, to assess lessons from four years of the most filmed war in history.

The Prime Minister says we are going to have to spend more, faster, on defence. But his government hasn’t even decided how it will spend the money already in the budget, despite promising the plan months ago.
Sitrep explains why the growing delays are a big problem for some defence firms, and therefore the Armed Forces they supply, as the ADS trade body tells us small business liquidations are at a 30-year high.
Sian Grzeszczyk Melbourne shares the Westminster whispers on when these vital decisions could finally be taken, and whether any more money could be found.
And Mike explains what US Forces are being massed around Iran, plus what that tells us about any military action that might happen.