The UK ramped up its air power in and around the Middle East before the Iran war, but the fact it took nearly a fortnight to deploy an air-defence destroyer has put military capability and readiness firmly in the spotlight.

Sitrep explains the rhetoric and the reality as political opponents accuse the Prime Minister of failing to prepare and sitting on his hands.

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, who helped write the Chilcot Report into the Iraq war, tells Sitrep why he thinks the US operation is “stunningly irresponsible”, and the UK got it right by staying on the sidelines. 

And Mike explains how warnings about the just how thinly spread the Armed Forces are now being seen in action.