In this installment of Battleground: The Big Picture, host Saul David sits down with Al Carns—Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, former Royal Marines colonel, SBS veteran awarded the Military Cross and Distinguished Service Order, and former Minister for the Armed Forces.

Carns opens up about his transition from a stellar 24-year military career into politics, driven by the realization that modern technology—specifically AI, low-cost drones, and data integration—has fundamentally transformed the character of warfare.

Drawing direct lessons from the battlefield in Ukraine, the former Defence Minister makes a compelling case for why Western defence forces must pivot away from slow, expensive, traditional hardware procurement and towards scalable, tech-enabled mass.

The discussion also dives deep into:

• The Defence Funding Gap: Why Carns resigned from his post as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces over budget shortfalls and the urgent need for military transformation.
• Reforming Veterans' Policy: His perspective on the Northern Ireland Legacy Bill and why a single, empowered truth-and-reconciliation body is required.
• National Resilience: Why true national defence relies on industrial capacity, supply chain security, and societal unity rather than just frontline troop numbers.
• Hybrid Threats & Propaganda: How foreign adversaries use social media and asymmetric tactics to sow division within Western democracies.
• The Trajectory of the Ukraine Conflict: Insights into recent leadership reshuffles in Kyiv, the tactical reality of drone saturation on the front lines, and the strategic dilemmas facing Putin’s war-driven economy.

Tune in for an unvarnished, highly knowledgeable perspective on modern warfare and the hard choices facing defence policy today.

Coming up next: Look out for Friday's extended interview with Belgian war correspondent Arnaud De Decker on modern drone units in Ukraine, followed by Roger Moorhouse interviewing Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski next week!

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at [email protected]

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Producer: James Hodgson

A Goalhanger Podcast

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