BFBS Sitrep

The Allied Reaction Force is the new “tip of the spear” for NATO’s military power. It’s  described as a strategic, high-readiness, force-generated, multi-domain and multinational capability.The ARF replaces the NATO Response Force and Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), as part of a radical update of military structures and plans since the invasion of Ukraine.The idea is to pack more military punch more quickly, and significantly the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) has been delegated authority to deploy the ARF without having to wait for NATO’s decision-making committees to give approval.General Sir James Everard, a former Deputy SACEUR, explains why the ARF matters, how it will work, and the UK’s part in this new force that sits at the very top of NATO’s plans to be able to mobilise up to 300,000 troops if needed.

75 years since NATO was created to defend Europe, Sitrep asks what’s needed to do that job properly today.From organising hundreds of thousands of troops, to digging ditches and ensuring bridges can carry tanks, the challenges are explained by Professor Michael Clarke and Oana Lungescu, a former senior advisor to the NATO Secretary General.Part of the jigsaw is the new Alliance Reaction Force. It’s commander, Lieutenant General Lorenzo D’Addario tells Sitrep how the ARF plans to pack more punch more quickly.And former Royal Navy Commander chooses his ‘moment that made me’, when an engineering mistake flooded his ship and threatened to sink it.

Two Royal Navy minehunters, given to Ukraine last year, are still in UK waters because they can’t get into the Black Sea while the war continues.But Ukraine’s Navy is using them to prepare for when they can start clearing the hundreds of explosives lying on the sea-bed. Sitrep’s Simon Newton has been watching some of that work on Exercise Sea Breeze in Scottish waters.Mark Rutte has been appointed as the next NATO Secretary General, so we ask a former alliance insider what the job involves and what the new leader will bring to the role.And another veteran shares the moment that made them. Professor Neil Greenberg tells Sitrep how hearing a radio interview by chance led him from young medical student to a world respected authority on military mental health via many Royal Navy ships and submarines.

Sitrep analyses the main party manifestos for the general election in which defence has had its highest profile in decades.AI and data collection are promised to bring a revolution to military capability.  But they could also make it harder to work with partners and allies by creating a new “language barrier”, so how do we avoid that?And the 2am phone call ordering a Brigadier to take his men to an unexpected war within days.  Julian Thompson, who led 3 Commando Brigade, in the Falklands shares his story in the first of our new interview series “The Moment That Made Me”.

While North Korea sends hundreds of balloons, loaded with rubbish and manure, across the border, South Korea is setting up giant speakers to blare K-pop music for miles into the North.Sitrep assess the risk of a playground scrap going out of control, and explains why many heavily armed nations indulge in childish tactics when they don’t want an all-out fight.Ukraine has been trying out experimental AI drone technology on the battlefield to lock onto targets by identifying their voice, or avoid Russian jamming.  Olivia Savage from Janes tells us what she’s seen and heard.And former RAF Officer Mike Murtagh shares stories from his time spying on the Kremlin in the 1990s, including fake firefighters, honeytraps and a bear on the loose.

From the wooden horse at Troy to rubber tanks in Dover military deceptions have been central to war for thousands of years.In the lead up to D-Day the allies convinced Germany their assault would be 150 miles away from Normandy. Professor Michael Clarke and Sitrep’s Claire Sadler explain the complex web of deceptions involving radar interference, wooden planes and King George VI.Former Royal Signals commander John Kirby tells Sitrep how he helped deceive Saddam Hussein’s forces during the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, and General Sir Richard Barrons explains how deceptions can still happen in the transparent battlespace which revealed Russia’s invasion plan for Ukraine months before it happened.Plus Christian Andrews, from the cast of Operation Mincemeat, tells us how one of history’s most audacious military deceptions has been transformed into an Olivier Award winning musical. 

Presidents and Prime Ministers have big decisions to make in Washington about how to better defend Europe, deter Russia, and support Ukraine.But how does it work behind closed doors, away from the choreographed photo ops, and who is actually making the decisions?  Lord Peter Ricketts, former UK Ambassador to NATO, lifts the lid on how some of the world’s most powerful people really behave and why.Amid ever louder chatter about allowing Ukraine to strike Russian sovereign territory with US missiles Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the Army’s former assistant-director of ISR, explains what would be on the target list and how much such strikes could change.And 80 years since D-Day Professor Michael Clarke reviews your suggestions for the best books and films to tell that story.

Russia has the momentum in Ukraine right now, so is it time for a radical rethink of how we help?James Heappey, who served four years as Armed Forces Minister, tells Sitrep we should be thinking about putting a training mission into Western Ukraine along with air defence support.  Professor Michael Clarke explains the potential risks and benefits of shifting our red-lines.They also discuss the general election and whether it will mean a shake-up or continuity for defence.And former RAF Hercules pilot Scottie Bateman shares stories of incredible service across more than half a century by the swiss-army-knife of tactical airlift, and its crews.

For more than half a century the C-130 Hercules was the backbone of the RAF.It’s played a key role in daring special forces and counter terror mission, supported combat operations from the Falklands to Afghanistan, delivered disaster relief, and carried out evacuations in some of the most challenging of environments.Named after the mythological Greek hero with exceptional strength, Hercules was intended simply to be a cargo aircraft but its adaptability and versatility turned it into the swiss-army-knife of tactical airlift.Now the life story of the plane, also known affectionately as Fat Albert, is told by one of its former pilots in a new book simply titled ‘Hercules’.  Scott Bateman tells Kate Gerbeau some of the many tales of service by Hercules and the people who flew on board.

Sitrep looks at the future shape of the Navy as the government talks of a new ‘golden era in shipbuilding’ and assesses what it can learn from current conflicts. Expert analysis from Commodore Steve Prest who’s just left the service and former Naval warfare officer Professor Peter Roberts from RUSI.Sitrep’s Simon Newton reports from Poland on Exercise Immediate Response, designed to reinforce the Alliance’s Eastern Flank and deter Russia, with 2,500 UK troops taking part and we hear from the Telegraph’s Colin Freeman in Ukraine. Finally, Sitrep discusses how soldiers should balance taking ground in conflict with the duty to protect historic sites and artifacts with Dr Peter Caddick-Adams and the Commander of the Cultural Property Protection Unit Roger Curtis.