A new four-part series from This Is Not A Drill… Putin thought he could conquer Ukraine with a tank, air and infantry-led attack straight out of the Second World War. Instead Kyiv turned the tables on Russia with the fastest, most intensive transformation of warfare in half a century. In this mini-series Gavin Esler explores this new generation of weapons and how they’ll fight – or prevent – the next wars.

This time: cheap, mass-produced drones enabled Kyiv to hit Russia hard and deep. Ukraine is now the world expert in this new technology. What does it mean when you can take out a warship with a weapon that costs less than a family car? What is “precision mass”? And why A.I. will make drones even more powerful.

Gavin Esler talks to:

• Illya Sekirin, former frontline drone operator for Ukraine and author of Rise of the Machines: Drone Warfare in the Russia-Ukraine War

• Michael Horowitz, Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation at the Council on Foreign Relations

• Peter Apps, global defence columnist for Reuters, British Army reservist and author of The Next World War

• Major General (Ret.) Mick Ryan of the Australian Army, author of The War for Ukraine and the Futura Doctrina Substack

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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Is everything we knew about warfare changing right before our eyes? The war in Ukraine began with tanks and infantry...and now drones dominate in the battle for dominance.

In a brand new four-part series New Weapons for New Wars, we explore what the present and indeed, the future of the battlefield looks like.

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Space is now an essential part of military planning and operations. Recent reports suggest Russia and China have discussed targeting Starlink satellites, highlighting their increasing importance in conflicts.  Are ‘space wars’ no longer science fiction but part of military planning? Joining Gavin Esler to discuss the implications and the dangers of this new potential battleground is Dr Mark Hilborne, senior lecturer in the School of Security Studies at King’s College London. 

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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As Russian casualties mount in brutal frontline assaults on Ukraine, Putin’s recruitment is growing ever more desperate. With international sanctions biting and Ukraine’s own campaigns targeting critical Russian infrastructure - can Putin sustain his war? Can he find the manpower – or can he afford it? To discuss the latest from Russia, Gavin Esler is joined by Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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Donald Trump’s failing war on Iran has emboldened China. Beijing is trying to build relationships to counter Washington, as it looks to fill a vacuum in power globally left by the United States as it shifts its geopolitical strategy. Gavin Esler is joined by Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings, to discuss how China is trying to capitalise on America’s failings. 

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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Just days into the Iran conflict, strikes had taken out much of the country’s military leadership. Yet the conflict continues with a new regime installed in Tehran. With the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei unseen since the outbreak of war, who is really in charge now? And as peace negotiations continue to stall, what drives Tehran’s decisions?

Gavin Esler discusses the latest from Iran with Professor Ali Ansari, founding director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews.

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• Refund Club is a trading style of Sandsford Law Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA no. 8008114). Checking is free. A fee is payable only if your claim is successful. Eligibility: car finance taken out in the UK between 2007 and 2021. The average claim is around £829 per agreement; this is an average and not a guarantee of the amount you will receive. You can also claim yourself for free by contacting your lender or the Financial Ombudsman Service. refundclub.co.uk/drill

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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A week of turmoil within Ukraine’s armed forces has seen protestors take to the streets and a chaotic series of changes at the very top of military command. 

What comes next for the future of Ukraine's defence, after a week of damaging political upheaval? And what does it mean for Zelenskyy’s military strategy?

Oz Katerji is joined by Jimmy Rushton, special correspondent at the Kyiv Independent, for the background on a story which has rocked Ukraine and its armed forces as they continue to hold out against the Russian invasion.

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Written and presented by Oz Katerji. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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European security is in a state of crisis that would have been hard to imagine when Emmanuel Macron took office as French President in 2017. What happens when a President whose term has been so dominated by the threat of Russia, the fate of NATO and fears for Europe’s independence comes to the end of his term? Fresh from the NATO summit, Macron turned his final Bastille Day into a statement of European unity and resolve – but questions remain over his successor, European rearmament and America’s commitment to NATO. Could the ‘true European Army’ that Macron once posited by the answer? Gavin Esler talks it over with Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief at The Economist.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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As member states gathered for the NATO conference in Ankara this week, leaders faced a series of questions over the future of the security alliance.

As President Trump flew into Turkey criticising allies over spending commitments and their support in the Iran conflict, could they rely on the US commitment to NATO any longer?  And with Russia’s war on Ukraine ongoing, and the looming threat that Putin may yet test NATO’s resolve by targeting a member state, can allies meet defence budget pledges and defend Europe within a NATO less reliant on America?

Oz Katerji hears the latest from the conference halls from Ed Arnold, Senior Associate Fellow, International Security at RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute.

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Written and presented by Oz Katerji. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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The United States’ war with Iran is a reminder that it’s easier to start a war than to end it.

Many other lessons from the conflict are also being analysed right now, from how relatively low-cost weapons change the economics of war, to how even a far-away war can affect all of us in our daily lives.

Dr Neda Bolourchi, Middle East historian and nonresident fellow with the Institute for Global Affairs Eurasia Group, joins Gavin Esler to explore some of the ways in which the Iran war is making military strategists, politicians, governments and ultimately the rest of us think very differently about conflict in the 21st century.

Read Dr Bolourchi’s article The Hidden Systems of Modern War: Ten Takeways from the Iran War for the Modern War Institute here.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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