Why Militaries Can't "Bypass and Avoid" Urban Warfare?

Stuart Lyle from DSTL — the UK MOD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory — makes the case that modern armies cannot simply avoid cities, drawing on more than 12 years of research into urban operations. He covers adversary doctrine, lessons from recent conflicts (likely including Mariupol and Gaza), and how emerging technology and data analysis are reshaping urban combat planning. The credibility here is real: Lyle works at the operational-scientific interface rather than the pundit level, and the hosts' Army backgrounds keep the questioning grounded in practical soldiering.