BFBS Sitrep

Turkish forces are stepping up air strikes and a ground offensive, as their incursion in Kurdish-held areas of northern Syria continues. It follows the withdrawal of US troops, who fought alongside Kurdish forces in north-east Syria against so-called Islamic State.  Former soldier and Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely joins us along with former US intelligence officer Michael Pregent.

The American press are suggesting President Trump is about to bin yet another east west treaty. It's called the Open Skies treaty and it says Russians and Americans should be able to fly over and look over each other's territory and so lesson the chances of building undeclared weapons. Jonathan Eyal joins us.

Pressure mounts on the Prime Minister to announce a Bill protecting veterans of Northern Ireland in the Queen’s Speech. Lord Dannatt, ex Army chief, and Michael Fallon, former defence sec, are among those who have written to The Times.  We speak to the paper's defence correspondent Lucy Fisher.

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An RAF pilot has been selected to join Virgin Orbit's small satellite launch programme on secondment

Brexit is four weeks away, so what preparations are being made for any potential civil disobedience and will the military be involved? 

Hiding in plain sight Exercise Iron Viper challenges the art of camouflage in an urban environment.

As the violence in Hong Kong gets worse we speak to Professor Steve Tsang from SOAS at the University of London on what happens next. 

The US has a new top military officer, General Mark Milley takes over as the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

And why is Sweden’s Navy HQ returning to a vast underground fortress designed to withstand a nuclear attack  

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We are joined by Professors Paul Rogers and Michael Clarke to talk the constitution, law and the military after this week's Supreme Court decision.  

Can climate change send us to war?

Forces News has been given exclusive access to a sniper course and Amy Wiltshire has been speaking to one of the them about their job.

And soldiers jumping ship to join the Royal Navy.

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Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has praised the military at a Downing Street reception for the Armed Forces. The Iran/Saudi stand off continues but what does this mean for the US we hear from experts Dan Plesch and Mike Evans. 

Two former paratroopers who took the Ministry of Defence to a tribunal were subject to "highly offensive" racial harassment, an employment judge has ruled.  Why is this still happening in the Army?

And Britain's second aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales begins sea trials.

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This week the First Sea Lord is at DSEI as the MOD announce Babcock will build the new Type 31 frigates.

Police chiefs in Northern Ireland say a bomb in Londonderry was built with the aim of killing police officers.  We talk to the Chair of the Police Federation of Northern Ireland Mark Lindsay.

We are joined by Dr Karin Von Hippel, the Director General of RUSI to talk about the sacking of the US National Security Advisor John Bolton and Fawaz Gerges explains what it means for American foreign policy.

Chris Ryan, the former SAS soldier turned author has a new book out called Black Ops.  It's firmly based on his knowledge of how the regiment operates, so what's life like as member of the elite unit in today's trouble times?

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This week we are joined by Dr Julian Lewis, Chair of the Commons Defence Committee to discuss defence spending and why the UK needs a full time National Security Adviser.

Christina Lamb, chief foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times talks about the Taliban peace talks and whether they will bring long term peace to Afghanistan.

We're tracking the Adrian Darya 1.  The oil tanker that was seized by Royal Marines off Gibraltar back in July has been hanging around in the Eastern Mediterranean  - what is it waiting for?

Paul Beaver is an aviation expert and we talk to him about the National Audit Office report suggesting military aircrew training is coming up short.

And we remember the start of the Second World War, 80 years ago this week.

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The Prime Minister's decision to temporarily suspend parliament and have a new Queen's Speech means the Chancellor is planning his spending.  Defence analysts Francis Tusa and Professor Michael Clarke discuss whether defence could lose out. We track the Iranian tanker formerly known as Grace 1.  It's now called Adrian Darya 1 and is trying to find somewhere to refuel in the eastern Mediterranean, but this is more than a story about a ship as Professor Michael Clarke explains. What happens at BATUS, the British Army's training unit on the prairie in Canada? Our reporter Sian Grzeszczyk talks to BATUS Commander Colonel Mark Ellwood. And Churchill established his war rooms in a bunker beneath Whitehall 80 years ago this week. Imperial War Museum Curator James Taylor has some stories from that time. Presented by James Hirst with Christopher Lee.

Talks between the US and the Taliban on a peace deal in Afghanistan are said to be close to completion — with the White House keen to get American troops home before Donald Trump seeks re-election next year. We hear from a correspondent who’s been talking to the Taliban’s chief negotiator in Qatar. The latest figures on UK military personnel numbers again show the forces are under their target strength. But the Chief of the Defence Staff has claimed that doesn’t matter, in an age of autonomous and unmanned equipment. We’ll ask whether he’s right. Donald Trump and Boris Johnson head to the G7 summit this weekend, and the tension with Iran is likely to dominate — we’ll look ahead. And we’ll ask why Donald Trump was so keen to buy Greenland, and so offended when his bizarre suggested was rejected out of hand.

On the 14th August 1969 the British Army deployed to Northern Ireland in response to sectarian riots on the streets of Londonderry and Belfast.  Op Banner, as the Army came to call it, was the longest ever continuous operational deployment of troops in the history of the British Armed Forces.

In this programme, 50 years on, you'll hear from:

• Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence. 
• General Sir Mike Jackson who served as a Captain with the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday and went on to become Chief of the General Staff.
• Baron Caine, a former government advisor to the Northern Ireland Office.
• Richard White, a former Royal Marine who served in Northern Ireland.

Presented by James Hirst with Christopher Lee 

Please also plug listen again/podcast  

In today’s Sitrep with Kate Gerbeau and Christopher Lee…

The UN hears pleas to intervene in Syria, but why the is the west is seemingly so reluctant to intervene?

As Britain’s stand-off with Iran continues, is there a diplomatic way to end it? 

One week into Boris Johnson’s premiership, what have we learned about his commitment to the forces? And are the repeated comparisons to Winston Churchill really justified?

Plus, as an American teenager wins $3-million playing the video game Fortnite, how the military views gamers as a potential source of new recruits

PROGRAMME TX THURSDAYS at 4:30pm UK TIME on BFBS RADIO 2 and at 6:30pm UK TIME on BFBS & UK Bases

You can listen on BFBS Radio 2 at 1630 (UK time) and at 1830 (UK time) on BFBS (via web & App in the UK and on FM in Scotland, Colchester, Salisbury Plain, Aldershot, Catterick & Blandford Forum).  On Sky Channel 0211.

Alternatively - listen again on-line, www.forces.net/sitrep or download the Sitrep Podcast.