BFBS Forces News tests drone-age training with an Xbox controller

James Wharton's report from Exercise Rhino Titan examines where parachute drops, virtual drones and battlefield medicine meet.

Channel: BFBS Forces News Story of November 3, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

Do UK war games match frontline reality?

The drones need airspace. That practical constraint sits at the heart of BFBS Forces News's most-watched upload of the week: safety rules prevent live drones flying alongside aircraft, so some of the threat has to be simulated.

In "Do UK war games match frontline reality?", James Wharton follows 3 PARA and French troops through Exercise Rhino Titan in Germany, from packing kit to jumping into Sennelager. Then he picks up an Xbox controller to try a virtual drone battlefield. The contrast gives the report its central question: how closely can an exercise reproduce the conditions soldiers would actually face?

The answer isn't confined to screens. Wharton also examines bomb-dropping multicopters, portable anti-drone radar and medical teams working in an improvised building. Major Dave Ferraby says it is the first time in more than twenty years that his light surgical team has deployed by parachute. The report has drawn about 133,000 views.

That training question runs through the channel's fifteen uploads. "Scandi Soldiering: Fast-track training for a thousand soldiers" visits reservists in Denmark, while another report explores Norway and Sweden's Home Guard model. The freshest momentum belongs to "Ukrainian fighter's take on UK officer training": frontline veteran Zero observes Sandhurst cadets on Salisbury Plain and argues that the pressure from drones needs to go further.

Across the channel, the week brought roughly 2.9 million views, with subscribers unchanged. Daily viewing is currently well below its usual level. Among nearby military channels, Max Afterburner had a particularly busy week, while 22plinkster was quieter. For BFBS Forces News, the strongest new thread is specific: not simply what equipment troops have, but whether their training makes the threat from above feel real.

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More from BFBS Forces NewsVideo taking off 11x its usual first dayBritain's £6bn submarine plan would bring floating docks to ClydeBFBS Forces News explains the engineering behind a proposed upgrade intended to ease the Royal Navy's maintenance backlog.Channel: BFBS Forces News · Story of October 19, 2026 Also in Military, weapons and geopoliticsThis week on the channel +1.4M views this weekAdministrative Results brings the Geissele GFW HGV back for a sound testFive uploads connect modern rifle reviews, BAR history and a troublesome Nock volley gun.Channel: Administrative Results · Story of November 3, 2026 A different discovery todayVideo taking off 12x its usual first dayFrom "please don't leave" to "ask Grok": John Oliver's midterm tourThe election-week main story drew about 3.8 million views in under a day, and its comment section filled more than twice as fast as usual.Channel: LastWeekTonight · Story of November 3, 2026

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BFBS Forces News tests drone-age training with an Xbox controller The full story on Trari: https://trari.com/en/story/forces-news-25002/?from=kit

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The videos drawing views on BFBS Forces News right now

Scandi Soldiering: Fast-track training for a thousand soldiers79,155 views · 2026-10-28 Norway and Sweden's Home Guard military model74,355 views · 2026-10-29 Ukrainian fighter's take on UK officer training49,897 views · 2026-11-02 Dog Takes Out Ringleader46,876 views · 2026-10-29 How regular civilians can help the Armed Forces prepare for war | Sit…24,784 views · 2026-10-30 Greywolf Vs Nemesis13,497 views

The numbers

Here is how BFBS Forces News's audience and uploads moved over the week.

views gained this week: this channel and similar channels

Max Afterburner

11,625,846

BFBS Forces News

2,850,542

Preston Stewart

2,388,558

Zeihan on Geopolitics

1,755,578

Administrative Results

1,360,493

22plinkster

956,495

Military Madness

562,503

Mrgunsngear Channel

374,921

nutnfancy

215,400

subscribers

1,080,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

685,739,226

views per day

107,603

typical day: 545,266

first-day views of each video posted this week

Do UK war games match frontline reality?

83,660

Scandi Soldiering: Fast-track training …

47,357

Norway and Sweden's Home Guard military…

31,462

Dog Takes Out Ringleader

13,810

How regular civilians can help the Arme…

18,334

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

Preston Stewart

1,110,000

BFBS Forces News

1,080,000

22plinkster

1,080,000

Military Madness

1,050,000

Mrgunsngear Channel

1,000,000

Max Afterburner

990,000

Administrative Results

979,000

Zeihan on Geopolitics

977,000

nutnfancy

867,000

As of November 3, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.