Returning guest David Murrin begins by considering US President Donald Trump’s gambits in the Middle East as he seeks to prevail over Iran. In a discussion with host Iain Ballantyne - recorded before Iran and the USA reverted to a state of war (in July) - David reflected on the Trump pattern of seek…
Warships Pod
by Warships Pod
WARSHIPS POD aims to put a spotlight on the world’s navies and features warships past, present, and future. We’ll cover current defense issues alongside interviews and commentary on the Royal Navy, US Navy, and all other navies across the globe, as well as looking back at historical events. This is the podcast for WARSHIPS International Fleet Review, a monthly magazine.
Latest Episodes
Welcome to the second part of a Warships Pod special, with returning guest Lee Pilgrim and host Iain Ballantyne diving into the state of the Royal Navy today, its decline since the 1990s and where next.
Also in this episode, Iain and Lee consider the failure of strategic vision in the UK when it com…
In the first instalment of a two part discussion host Iain Ballantyne talks to returning guest Lee Pilgrim about the State of the Royal Navy and its decline over the past 20-30 years.
Topics they tackle in this initial helping include: the shortage of Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers; Britain…
Host Iain Ballantyne talks to guests Gary Blackburn and James Bosbotinis about the Iran War, including the Strait of Hormuz struggle, how the conflict could shatter NATO plus what it has revealed about the state of the Royal Navy.
Topics also touched on in their lively chat include the American deci…
In this episode host Iain Ballantyne talks to guest Steve Kershaw, a former Royal Navy submarine officer, about his amazing career under the sea and his work today helping to bring about the UK’S ‘Hybrid Navy’ transformation.
Iain kicks off by asking Steve to explain what led him to choose a naval c…
Guest Roger Moorhouse and host Iain Ballantyne discuss the German submarine threat in WW2 in a lively and engrossing chat. Roger is the author of several acclaimed books, including ‘Killing Hitler’ and ‘First to Fight’ and now ‘Wolfpack’, an excellent single volume deep dive into the submarine arm o…
During the second part of a fascinating chat with host Iain Ballantyne, guest Dr James Bosbotinis things kick off by addressing how a future battleship might shape up following President Donald Trump’s call for a new generation of the fighting steel behemoths.
James suggests that, rather than follow…
During the first part of a fascinating discussion with host Iain Ballantyne, returning guest Dr James Bosbotinis provides insights into the naval significance of a big military parade in China. Also considered is the current status of the Russian threat and the scale of danger being faced by NATO.
M…
In the second and final part of their discussion defence expert Lee Pilgrim and host Iain Ballantyne resume their survey of the Royal Navy and how to fix it.
They ponder the need for a new ‘Dreadnought moment’ under a leader as radical as the legendary Admiral Jacky Fisher who introduced war-winning…
In the first of a two-part discussion, defence expert Lee Pilgrim provides some common sense, but possibly provocative, suggestions on how to sort out the mess in which the Royal Navy currently finds itself.
In this wide-ranging part one chat Lee considers the current state of the RN - underperformi…
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 …
Our guest is John Foreman, naval officer and former UK Defence Attaché in Moscow and Kyiv. He provides amazing insights into what it was like dealing with the regime of Vladimir Putin as Russia invaded Ukraine and reflects on other dealings with the Russians, at sea and ashore.
Topics discussed incl…
In this episode of the Warships Pod guests David Murrin and Dr David Blagden, with help from host Iain Ballantyne, discuss a worldwide struggle in a multi-polar era that is rapidly turning kinetic - from Ukraine, to the Red Sea and Gaza. It may soon burn even hotter should China invade Taiwan and/or…
In this episode of the Warships Pod Dr Gary Blackburn returns to have a chat with host Iain Ballantyne about the impact of the second presidency of Donald Trump.
Topics discussed include the transactional fashion in which the returning POTUS runs domestic and foreign policies along with defence matt…
In the second of our podcast episodes devoted to the State of the US Navy - as it and a troubled world sail into 2025 - guest David Axe chats with host Iain Ballantyne. A range of topics, including many covered in the recently published Warships IFR ‘Guide to the US Navy 2025’, are covered in the di…
In the first of two podcast episodes on the State of the US Navy as it (and a troubled world) sail into 2025, guest Dr Emma Salisbury chats with host Iain Ballantyne
They look first of all at areas Emma wrote about in the recently published Warships IFR ‘Guide to US Navy 2025’, namely: the USA’s ‘sh…
As the United Kingdom strives to maintain a credible strategic deterrent in the face of Russian aggression – including threats from President Vladimir Putin to ‘go nuclear’ due to alleged Western interference in the Ukraine War - our guest on the podcast is Dr David Blagden.
Together with podcast ho…
Dr James Bosbotinis draws on his considerable expertise in naval weaponry and the threats they pose, along with offering insights into geopolitical developments that do not augur well for world peace.
The discussion with host Iain Ballantyne includes the part played by the US Navy and Royal Navy def…
Our guests on this episode of the podcast are Dr Emma Salisbury and Will Freer, who recently wrote a commentary for Warships IFR, headlined ‘How to Achieve a More Lethal Royal Navy’, which was based on their recent report for the Council on Geostrategy.
Here they discuss various topics associated wi…
Back for a second discussion of hot topics are guests Dr Gary Blackburn and Dr David Blagden. With host Iain Ballantyne, they weigh up the prospect of European NATO nations being forced to cope with a bigger burden of defence, if a re-elected President Trump decides to to pull American land forces o…