31: National Service Electioneering & Drones Seduction

Our guests for this episode are Dr Gary Blackburn and Dr David Blagden who, with host Iain Ballantyne, discuss a recent proposal by the UK Government to introduce a new National Service scheme for 18-year-olds.

Iain asks if it is just a case of blatant electioneering by the incumbent Sunak administration, which looks set to lose a summer General Election to the Labour Party? Or does the proposal offer some merit amid a recruitment crisis for the Royal Navy?

Likewise, was the other recent big defence announcement by the Conservative government - of taking Defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 - another gambit to try and win votes?

Also discussed is the state of the Royal Navy, with frigate and destroyer levels now cut to just 15 and yet with warnings of the UK being confronted by a pre-war state. Things may improve in the 2030s, with new warships entering service, but in the meantime it leaves Britain with a small, tired ‘jam tomorrow’ Navy. The effect of sea blindness is also touch upon during the conversation.

And can drones really replace people and warships? Or are they just a seductive illusion?

This is just the first helping of discourse between the trio as in the next episode – out very soon – they tackle the topics of ‘Dormant NATO’ (under a possible second Trump presidency), the wars in the Red and Black seas and whether to directly confront Russia or contain that nuclear state.

•The next (July) edition of Warships IFR is published on June 21 in the UK and globally. Visit the magazine web site http://bit.ly/wifrmag Also, follow us on X @WarshipsIFR Facebook @WarshipsFR and Warships IFR TV on YouTube @warshipsifrtv3668 For more on various editions of the magazine https://bit.ly/wifri

•Dr Gary Blackburn is an honorary fellow of the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull. Gary has taught Security Studies and Military History at the Universities of Leeds and Hull, respectively - and has written for Defence Studies and The Critic, and for the latter about aspects of the UK’s 2021 Integrated Review of Defence and Security. Follow him on X at @gjb70

•Dr David Blagden, is Senior Lecturer in International Security at the Strategy and Security Institute (SSI) and in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Exeter. Dr Blagden has worked in - and subsequently consulted for - the UK Cabinet Office, provided evidence for a number of Parliamentary Select Committees and HM Government policy reviews.

He is also a Visiting Fellow of the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre, an Associate of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies. He has written for outlets including The Guardian, The Spectator and the New Statesman. Follow him on X @blagden_david


•Iain Ballantyne is the founding and current Editor of Warships IFR (first published in 1998) along with its ‘Guide to the Royal Navy’ (since 2003) and ‘Guide to the US Navy’ (since 2018). Iain is also author of the books ‘Hunter Killers’ (Orion) and ‘The Deadly Trade’ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), both about submarine warfare, plus ‘Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron’ and ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’ (published by Canelo). In 2017 Iain was awarded a Fellowship by the British Maritime Foundation, which promotes awareness of the United Kingdom’s dependence on the sea and seafarers. Visit his web site Bismarckbattle.com and follow him on X @IBallantyn