BFBS Sitrep

Despite temperatures below -20C attacks are targeting not just electricity and gas infrastructure in Ukraine, but heating plants which supply thousands of homes at a time.
Is there any military logic or justification? Colin Freeman updates us from the city of Kharkiv, and Simon Newton explains how the extreme cold affects everything from drone batteries to the targeting of artillery shells.
As the final nuclear-arms-control treaty between Russia and the US expires, Professor Michael Clarke explains why Britain’s nuclear deterrent has just become more important.
And after a doubling of drone-sightings near UK military bases will new powers for the Armed Forces to shoot them down be the solution, or is that too low-tech?

Much buzz about a possible NATO Arctic Sentry operation helped calm Donald Trump’s talk of taking over Greenland, and the UK is one of the big backers. But do we have enough troops properly trained to operate in some of the world’s harshest conditions

Ex-Royal Marine Tip Cullen shares the hard realities, including freezing eyeballs, while former Infantry officer Ed Arnold assesses whether it would be a worthwhile use of troops.

As a project leader is sacked, and the Defence Secretary says it’s nearly “back or scrap” time for the Ajax armoured vehicle programme, former tank commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon gives his verdict from a test drive.

And Professor Michael Clarke has read the new US Defense Strategy so you don’t have to. Spoiler alert – it namechecks President Trump more than fifty times, but says nothing about troop numbers.

Donald Trump crossed a line by threatening economic warfare against the UK and other allies. He may have backed down, for now, but former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace says we should be preparing for the potential of the US turning its back on NATO.

From nuclear missiles, to fighter jets and spare parts Professor Michael Clarke and Matthew Savill, a former policy chief in the MoD, explain our Armed Forces’ dependence on the US and how it could be de-risked.

It also raises yet more questions about US commitment to back any Ukraine peace plan.

Sitrep shares the latest from the battlefield, and hears from Ukrainian soldiers buying kit from a new Amazon-style online store, with incentive programmes to shape and monitor how they fight.

The Chief of Defence Staff refuses to say cuts are coming, but has confirmed there isn’t enough money for everything they want to do to make the Armed Forces war-ready and transformed for a high-tech future.
Professor Michael Clarke and former RAF Deputy Director of Operations Greg Bagwell explain the “hard choices” once again facing defence, with the vital Defence Investment Plan still not ready.
We’ve also learned that there isn’t a national defence plan for the event of war, but one is being worked on. Sian Grzeszczyk Melbourne explains why new rules making it easier to call up veterans are a key part of that.
And Alex Baker MP tells Kate Gerbeau why she’s lobbying for a new Defence Investment and Resilience bank, and how she thinks it could ease the money worries.

In his 22 year army career Ash Alexander-Cooper was shot multiple times, targeted by a suicide bomber, and caught in numerous explosions.
But he has taken those traumatic moments, learnt from them, and now uses those experiences to help others with leadership and resilience.
Now he’s teamed up with leading neuropsychologist Dr Jessica Miller for a new book, “Mindful Soldier”, which tells the stories of Ash’s experiences and explains the science of how our brains manage such extreme moments.
They tell Kate Gerbeau how we can all use techniques, from squaddie humour to “helicopter view”, to adapt and thrive when we face life’s challenges.
(Author profits from Mindful Soldier will support the Royal British Veterans Enterprise charity, and the Gurkha Welfare Trust. It is available from their stores at https://rbveshop.org/products/mindful-soldier-ash-alexander-cooper and
https://www.gwt.org.uk/ )