BFBS Radio Sitrep

What’s going to happen in 2022, where and why?

Will Ukraine be invaded or can big talks next week dial down the tension?

Why has Russia sent troops to Kazakhstan and will it become the first new international crisis of the year?

Does China really want to use its growing military, or is it just for show?

Professor Michael Clarke, and Dr Melanie Garson will help navigate us through the potential trouble spots of the next 12 months.

2021 – the year that Joe Biden replaced Donald Trump, took international troops out of Afghanistan, and the Taliban swept back to power.

The final Sitrep of the year examines the key events of the last twelve months, and what they mean for the UK and the world.

Britain’s first carrier strike group deployment in a decade, HMS Defender’s run-in with Russia in the Black Sea, and the defence review that shrinks the Army again but promises new high-tech planes and vehicles in years to come.

So who has had a good year, and who’s had a bad one? And what can the world expect in 2022? 

Four months since the Taliban marched back to power in Afghanistan Sitrep hears from three interpreters who had worked with UK forces, but who couldn’t get on evacuation flights.

After a whistleblower alleged chaos in the Foreign Office has cost lives, a Conservative MP has branded it a ‘failure of statecraft’, but has it done lasting damage for future military operations?

Domestic abuse accounts for around one in eight cases handled by the Army Welfare Service – they tell us how they can help turn things round.

And author Toby Harnden lifts the lid on how the CIA and SBS laid the groundwork in Afghanistan for the 2001 US-led invasion.

It is ‘the biggest modernisation of the Army for a generation’ according to ministers – but can it deliver? This week on Sitrep we look through the details of the ‘Future Soldier’ plan for the Army to spend more time deployed around the globe. We assess whether billions of pounds of new technology can make up for smaller numbers of people and tanks.

Defence is to make an ‘immeasurable shift’ in the way it handles complaints about sexual behaviour after thousands of women gave evidence of their experiences in the forces. One woman shares her story with Sitrep, and the MP who led an inquiry tells us it’s a victory for those who have spoken out.

And do we have to accept hearing damage as an occupational hazard of serving your country? We learn what it’s like for the hundreds of thousands of veterans whose hearing has been damaged, and look at what can be done to cut the risks.

Former RAF Typhoon pilot Mike Sutton tells us about his time flying sorties over Iraq on Operation Shader in 2015. From the cramped conditions of the cockpit, to close shaves with enemy fire and friendly aircraft.

Also on Sitrep we hear from one of the British Airways passengers held as human shields by Iraq in 1990, before the first Gulf War, and investigate who a mystery group of men on that flight really were.

Bosnia is in crisis once more, with fears the state could collapse and a new armed conflict emerge, we’ll explain why.

And from Premier League footballers, to chemical weapons experts, we hear about Britain’s ‘persuaders’ who help the UK maintain its soft-power around the globe.

Former RAF Typhoon pilot Mike Sutton talks at length to Kate Gerbeau about his time on combat sorties over Iraq on Operation Shader, what it was like to be high in the sky witnessing friends under attack on the ground, how bombing missions worked, and his close brushes with lethal danger.

Mike also tells Kate how he became a fighter pilot, despite initially being rejected by the RAF, and how he still gets to fly fast jets as a civilian.

After an F35, flying from HMS Queen Elizabeth, crashed into the Mediterranean the pilot ejected and was safely recovered to the Aircraft carrier.

In this week’s Sitrep we look at the two most urgent tasks now, to find out why the crash happened, and to recover the plane which is packed with top-secret technology that the UK does not want enemies to get a glimpse of.

Blowing up a satellite, massing troops near Ukraine, and getting involved in a migrant crisis. We ask what is Russia up to?

A world leading expert tells us why he’s changed his mind on the risk of a biological terror attack.

And we have the story of a world-record flight using a fuel made from nothing but air and water. We ask the manufacturer of the UK’s fighter jet engines if the fuel really could power a carbon-neutral Royal Air Force.

The Army’s top officers are summoned to discuss ‘disciplinary mistakes’, especially harassment and abuse of women. The outgoing Chief of Defence Staff acknowledges ‘laddish culture’ is encouraged because soldiers have to go ‘close and personal’ with the enemy.

In this week’s Sitrep we ask if that culture is necessary for a fighting force, and whether an independent audit of Army culture will be enough to deliver a promised cultural shift?

We also examine how Belarus may be ‘weaponising’ migration to destabilise the European Union, and investigate how an off the shelf drone was used in an assassination attempt.

And on the 100th Anniversary of Remembrance and the Poppy Appeal, a veteran tells us why it’s still very relevant for him.

World leaders talk big at COP26 on trying to avert a spiralling environmental catastrophe – but some key players are missing.

The Defence Secretary says militaries would have to deal with the consequences of a failed climate change policy.

In this week’s Sitrep – we examine the hopes of success or failure, and ask a former UK ambassador to the UN whether a ‘wartime mentality’ could help.

We’ll also dig into the murky data on just how much carbon emissions come from militaries... and how that might change.

Also this week we’ll examine the significance of RAF jets flying from Israeli soil for the first time since the country’s independence.

And we ask – is it time for an Afghanistan inquiry, or did the experience of Iraq teach us that there are better ways to learn lessons?