41: UK Strategic Defence Review ‘Fudge’ & Israel-Iran War

In this episode host Iain Ballantyne and returning guest Dr Gary Blackburn convene to discuss the substance, or otherwise, of the UK’s recently published Strategic Defence Review (SDR) paper.

They also tackle topics relating to the Israel-Iran War, the British reaction to it and also what President Donald Trump may or may not do next.

Gary proposes that the UK SDR paper was more of a template than anything else, and in fact amounted to a rather big fudge.

Iain suggests that UK politicians have not yet woken up the to the sheer scale of effort needed - and also urgency required - to properly defend the nation. For example, submarines appear fundamental to the SDR’s vision of national defence and yet the Submarine Service itself is not really getting what it needs to be ready to operate future vessels.

In sharing his considerable expertise on how Defence economics work, Gary touches on the UK’s creative accounting - ‘cooking the books’. It sees things that are not really part of Defence slotted into the UK’s supposed proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) devoted to creating robust and capable military forces (plus what it needs to qualify for NATO membership).

The worth of drones and A.I. versus the need for more frigates and submarines is among other things weighed up during a lively chat that also considers the viability of the UK’s new ‘Atlantic Bastion’ concept.

•Dr Gary Blackburn is an honorary fellow of the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull. He 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


•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’ (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

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