Methodology
How Iron Command assesses capability.
Two intelligence-tradecraft frameworks. SITREP is the operator-side method behind every published assessment. READ is the buyer-side method for reading capability claims and turning them into decisions. Both are practitioner tools, not academic models.
Operator side
SITREP
The framework behind producing an assessment. Sources, Identify, Timeline, Risk, Evaluate, Present. Used by every analyst at Iron Command on every published comparison and every advisory deliverable. Structured the way an operational J2 shop structures an estimate.
Buyer side
READ
The framework for reading a capability claim. Reality, Evidence, Assumptions, Decision. Built for defence-tech investors, programme leads, and corporate strategy teams who need to think like an intelligence analyst about defence questions without being one.
Operator-side method
SITREP — the way every Iron Command assessment is built
SITREP is the working method, not a public-facing brand. It runs inside every comparison on this site and every commissioned advisory engagement.
S
Sources
Verify, cross-reference, and weight by collection type.
I
Identify
Frame the actors, the system, and what each is actually trying to do.
T
Timeline
Order events chronologically. Most assessments fail because the sequence is wrong.
R
Risk
Escalation paths, second-order effects, and the failure modes the buyer hasn't asked about.
E
Evaluate
Weigh the evidence. Confidence-rated judgements. Intelligence gaps stated explicitly.
P
Present
Decision-grade output. No speculation, no narrative dress-up, no hedging by default.
Buyer-side method
READ — how to think like an intelligence analyst about defence claims
Defence capability is systematically misunderstood by the people making decisions about it, because intelligence tradecraft is treated as a classified specialism rather than a transferable methodology. READ is the transferable version. Four questions, in order, every time a capability claim crosses your desk.
R
Reality
What was actually built versus what is being sold. The demo-to-deploy gap. Operational reality versus marketing reality.
E
Evidence
Sourcing, weighting, and confidence calibration. Manufacturer claim, state claim, Western analyst inference, OSINT — each carries different weight, and a buyer reading the brief should know which is which.
A
Assumptions
Surface what's load-bearing. Structured analytic challenge to the assumptions inside the capability claim, the threat picture, and the procurement narrative.
D
Decision
Communicate intelligence to decision-makers, not to other analysts. The report exists to support a decision. If it doesn't, it's a paper, not an assessment.
Methodology in public
Where to see SITREP and READ on real questions
Every published comparison on this site is a worked example of the same methodology applied inside advisory engagements. The free sample isn't a teaser — it's the audition.
Worked examples
Peer-platform comparisons
SITREP applied to head-to-head capability questions. F-22 vs J-20, Burke vs Type 055, Virginia vs Yasen-M.
Long-form
Programme and sector reads
SITREP applied to UK/NATO defence-AI procurement, sector reads, and adversary doctrine.
Reference
Intel Wiki
The open-source intelligence database that underpins every comparison. 140+ platforms across 28 nations.
Led by
Ben Brand
Founder, Iron Command · Former British Army intelligence analyst
Apply the method
The methodology you've just read, applied to your decision.
Every Iron Command Advisory engagement runs SITREP behind closed doors and outputs a READ-shaped deliverable for the decision-maker. Discovery calls within 48 hours.
Built on top · Coming September 2026
First Island Brittleness (FIB) — the index the methods produce.
SITREP is how we run the assessment. READ is how the buyer reads it. FIBis the public quarterly artefact those methods produce — a 0–100 index of how fast the US-allied Indo-Pacific position is decaying versus being rebuilt. Methodology v1.0 locked, weights immutable for twelve months, open-source inputs per ICD 203.
See FIB →