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00:02We appear ever closer to a full-scale war with Russia.
00:07But are our forces battle-ready?
00:15With Russia regularly probing NATO's borders, we've been given exclusive access.
00:21Thank you. Please sit down.
00:24To military war games, testing our defenses against a Russian attack.
00:30We're not at peace, but we're definitely not at war either. We're somewhere in between.
00:36Tonight, British soldiers face their greatest test in the biggest NATO exercise of the year.
00:42It's been tough. It's certainly been a real test of character.
00:47And we're on Poland's border with Russia, embedding with the American infantry.
00:52We're coming through, coming through!
00:56It's getting in, doing what you need to do, and then getting out of there as fast as possible.
01:01We're with the boots on the ground as they prepare for brutal trench warfare.
01:07All right, get on him!
01:08In the skies, right on Russia's border with the pilots keeping watch.
01:13The fighters that are being controlled right now are down here.
01:17We can see beyond what the fighters can see with their radar.
01:21And we fly with the pilots as they take aim at the targets on the eastern flank.
01:26A long 12-15 hour day typically, I can get pretty painful to sit on the seat of an ejection
01:31seat.
01:45We're behind the scenes on land, at sea, and in the air, with the men and women training to be
01:52our first line of defense.
01:58Protecting our borders.
02:03And stopping Putin from expanding his war in Europe.
02:25Russia's barrage over Kyiv was short but intense, involving almost 600 drones and over 30 missiles.
02:35As if peace talks in Alaska hadn't happened, or that they'd given Vladimir Putin a free pass.
02:49Almost four years ago, Vladimir Putin launched the largest land invasion Europe has seen since 1945.
02:58But will he stop with Ukraine?
03:01Make no mistake, Putin's not going to give up.
03:03He's never going to give up the intent to remove Ukraine from the map.
03:07And he's never going to give up his intent to see Russian domination of Eastern Europe.
03:12And that brings us directly into conflict with Russia.
03:18In 2025, NATO, the world's largest military alliance, is preparing for the worst.
03:27Despite attempts to broker a lasting peace, NATO's running huge exercises throughout Europe to deter Russia and to test its
03:35own forces are ready for war.
03:38If it were to come, the biggest exercise of the year is Steadfast Dart.
03:48NATO's Carl Harwood plays a key role in its planning.
03:54Exercise Steadfast Dart is a deploy ex-NATO nations who will deploy large amounts of people and equipment across the
04:04entire alliance.
04:0710,000 soldiers, 1,500 fighting vehicles, 2,000 miles to cover.
04:13It's a race against time, measuring how fast NATO can mobilise if Russia were to attack.
04:19If you're going to go and exercise those areas, you're very, very acquainted with what the terrain is like, how
04:26difficult it is, the weather, the topography.
04:29Then should there be that threat, we're equipped with the right people, the right training, to push back any adversary.
04:38The land component of Steadfast Dart is being led by the British.
04:47We've got about 350 vehicles lined up here behind us.
04:51That's probably about a third of the total amount of kit that we're going to take out on Exercise Steadfast
04:56Dart,
04:56which is the first deployment exercise for NATO's Allied Reaction Force.
05:04Formed in 2024, the Allied Reaction Force is NATO's high-readiness multinational formation.
05:11The UK volunteered to step up to provide the large share of the troops.
05:17It's a lot of troops and it's a lot of complicated moving parts.
05:21This is one of the largest deployments of British forces into mainland Europe since the Cold War.
05:28We had Brits based in Scotland taking their kit and equipment down to Marchwood,
05:34sailing to the ports in Greece, offloading vehicles and then heading to the eastern flank.
05:42After hundreds of miles of hard travel, they touched down in Romania.
05:50So you just go in them rooms, stay in them rooms, scoff tonight, it's a meat feast with, like, chips,
05:55burgers, there's loads of stuff going on.
05:58Keeping the convoy on the road is pushing the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to their limit.
06:05Without fuel and without equipment support, keeping the vehicles fit and good work in order,
06:10that equipment or that, like, really critical supplies will not reach the troops on the ground,
06:15the troops at the tooth end of fighting.
06:19Despite their best efforts, not everything is going to plan.
06:25So we've had about 500 platforms come through this location with about 60 that have failed the safety inspection.
06:31Of the 60 failing safety inspection, around 52 have been repaired here,
06:35which left eight to be dragged forward on the recovery vehicles.
06:40For NATO's British-led land forces, the objective was to reach the front line as soon as possible.
06:48They arrived three weeks after the ships left the UK.
06:57Now, they're rendezvousing with the rest of the force, including the French, Spanish, Greeks and Romanians,
07:05just 13 miles from the Ukrainian border.
07:15In spite of breakdowns and sub-zero temperatures, here begins the massive task of building a war-ready camp,
07:23complete with dining halls and command headquarters.
07:28They've only got a few days to make it happen.
07:34Steadfast Dart gives you the ability to test new capabilities, test command and control.
07:40I can't stress enough how important that is.
07:43So you're ready to defend every inch of NATO.
07:50The rifles, the Royal Regiment of Artillery and 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, start digging in.
08:00It's a challenge. We've certainly experienced certain technical difficulties getting here.
08:03However, I think it's certainly been a real test of character.
08:12The weather's been tough. I mean, you know, we've had a night out sleeping in minus 11.
08:16We've certainly adapted to the climate.
08:18It's been quite dry, which I think soldiers from Britain would take any day of the week,
08:22having trained in Wales a lot when there's a lot of rain.
08:25We are fundamentally here to fire our L118 105mm light guns in support of infantry forces,
08:35particularly here in this example with 4 Scots Battle Group.
08:41It's a harsh environment, but these conditions are what they can expect in war with Russia.
08:49A bit of a shock to the system.
08:51We'd only been in for a couple of days and then suddenly the temperature really plummeted
08:54and with the wind chill, it sort of, I would say, it takes its toll.
08:58But I think what has been provided for us is a real opportunity to sort of harden.
09:08But we get the appropriate layering system in so that you can, one, go through and attack,
09:12not freeze, get to the end of the attack, and then, you know, once you've sweated,
09:16get yourself re-acclimatised and back to working temperatures.
09:20Once the camp is complete, they'll face the toughest part of the exercise.
09:25A simulated assault against Russian positions in brutal live-fire trench training.
09:35In Ukraine, the front line looks like a scene ripped from the First World War.
09:42The conflict has become a stalemate.
09:46Trench networks stretch across hundreds of miles.
09:50Being able to build and fight in these trenches is essential for front line survival.
10:01The layout zigzags, limiting damage from enemy fire.
10:07With a straight trench, one machine gun burst can take out an entire squad.
10:14Corners are lifesavers, breaking sight lines, containing shock waves, and giving troops cover.
10:26What we have been doing, we look at how we dig in, how you get below the surface to increase
10:31our survivability.
10:33We've been experimenting with a couple of different types of entrenching tools.
10:37We've bought some off the shelf and have brought them out here to give it a go, and the ground
10:40is really hard.
10:40But also, because this is an old range that's been going for a long time,
10:44there's just below the surface you find a tank, so, you know, it's been interesting.
10:50Knowing how unforgiving trench combat can be, medics are setting up.
10:56The primary mission of the field hospital is essentially to take very critically ill casualties,
11:02so whether they have a catastrophic bleed or something else that is life or limb endangering,
11:07we take them in and we take away that risk.
11:16So, for me, a typical day in this environment is I communicate with the wider battle group
11:23and they will indicate what kind of casualties might be coming our way
11:26so that the facility can prepare for that.
11:30Running a hospital in the field of battle is anything but straightforward.
11:35The biggest challenges will be things like the weather here, as it's very cold.
11:39We have drugs that need to be a specific temperature to maintain their use.
11:44So, finding out ways to maintain that temperature and keep them in the game is quite a challenge for us.
11:48Because we do have a surgical team, they need, obviously, a flat surface,
11:52so even the requirements like that are quite big considerations for when we're setting up this facility.
11:56So, if we don't have power, then the facility is useless.
11:59If we don't have fuel, the facility is useless.
12:01So, things like that can pose quite a challenge.
12:03It's tough work, but in a war, these medics will be the difference.
12:10When the fighting begins, their readiness won't just matter.
12:13It could determine who lives and who dies.
12:20Coming up, the fight begins.
12:25We join the Americans training for urban combat.
12:31You never fully know what you're going to begin yourself into.
12:33But can they hold the line before the Brits and other NATO troops are ready for action?
12:38Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!
12:48NATO, the world's most powerful military alliance, is running its largest war game of 2025,
12:56exercise steadfast dart.
12:59The first part of the mission was to test how fast the British and other NATO forces
13:04could reach the eastern flank.
13:07This exercise is two years in the planning.
13:10And the reason is to test and adjust all of our allies, all of our kit and equipment.
13:1610,000 troops have arrived, and now they need to be fed.
13:27So, I write the menu up depending on the meats they put out.
13:33The 2,500 Brits alone are going through 30 tonnes of food every week.
13:39This would only increase in a real war scenario.
13:46Nice. Enjoy.
13:48The Allied Reaction Force can scale up to 100,000 troops,
13:52and they're there to deploy rapidly across the alliance.
13:57Now they're getting ready to fight a major simulated battle against Russia.
14:03It's a clear message to Moscow.
14:06Do not expand your war in Europe.
14:10And it's part of a far bigger strategy to reinforce NATO's front line.
14:15So the exercise design was planned to bolster and enhance the full multinational battle groups.
14:23Throughout eastern and northern Europe,
14:25NATO has small-scale permanent forces stationed close to its borders with Russia.
14:30They're there to deter.
14:32But if conflict erupts, these troops will be the first into battle.
14:50Okay, guys, what's the registration?
14:53Major General Nissen is in charge of NATO's warfighting corps in the Baltic Sea region.
14:58He makes sure the troops he commands are constantly preparing for war.
15:03Sir, according to last inter-report, currently we have two axes of advance.
15:07There is no change to enemy intent.
15:10Okay, thank you.
15:11Blue situation.
15:11I talked with the higher command a half an hour before and they will send us an update with the
15:19overall situation.
15:20Okay, so basically we're set to engage the enemy.
15:25The scenario that we're working with, Russian forces attacking into the Baltic countries and Poland.
15:32Two and four divisions, roughly 100,000, 200,000 soldiers.
15:38I think it's obvious that the carnage, the loss of life that you see in Ukraine,
15:43we would have a similar situation in this area of operations.
15:48That is why it is so extremely important that we continue our mission to deter,
15:54so we don't end up in a situation where we actually have to fight a war.
15:59But if we have to fight the war, we are ready.
16:07Just 40 miles from the Russian border in eastern Poland,
16:11the US 3rd Infantry Division is getting ready for their part in Major General Nissen's latest exercise.
16:18The scenario is that the Russians have taken part of a town.
16:23The Americans, alongside other NATO troops, must kick them out.
16:31In Ukraine, urban combat has dominated the battlefield.
16:36Street battles and house-to-house fighting have shown everyone what to expect in a war with Russia.
16:42In just nine months, tens of thousands were killed and wounded in Bakhmut alone.
16:57I'm Sergeant Garrett Brown. I'm with the 3rd Infantry Division.
17:02I've been in Poland about five months now.
17:10The mission will be rolling up to a multi-level building
17:14and clearing from bottom up of enemy combatants,
17:19prisoners of war, and seize the building.
17:25Urban warfare is complex, so special forces are leading the training.
17:31These elite soldiers can't be identified.
17:35So, the one man's ever wrong, so whichever way he goes,
17:39the two men have to go opposite, so if the one man decides to go this way,
17:41the two men have to go.
17:44He's outlining a plan to take the first floor.
17:46The two men need to go all the way to establish their POD, OK?
17:52The stairs comes in for the stack.
17:55It will be attacked by six men split into two teams.
18:00When I push in, I stay down there until we call clear.
18:05OK.
18:06So I'm watching up.
18:07From the basement?
18:08From, just from the, pretty much where he's standing there.
18:12Yep.
18:12Just look up.
18:13Sergeant Brown is leading this part of the mission.
18:15First team comes in, clears these two rooms,
18:17and then second team comes in, clears this room, bounce, leapfrog, over.
18:23The two teams will use a fire-and-move tactic called leapfrogging.
18:28As the first team advances, the other lays down, covering fire.
18:34After securing a room, they alternate until the floor is clear.
18:41While Garrett is getting ready...
18:42Alpha will take this side.
18:44Bravo will take this room.
18:46Sergeant Ryan Sherman is leading his squad into the basement.
18:49Alpha, Bravo.
18:50We're going to drop in this window.
18:51It'll be the same thing.
18:52I'll pie, you'll be long, you'll be breached.
18:54We'll creep up, we'll creep up.
18:56First floor clear.
18:58Eagle, eagle, eagle, and we'll take the second floor.
19:00Bravo.
19:04So as you can see, we clear the basement.
19:07And then once the first floor is clear,
19:09then my squad will push up to the top floor,
19:12and we clear the top floor,
19:14and then first squad pushes back up,
19:15and they clear the roof of the building.
19:18Planning complete.
19:20The exercise is ready to begin.
19:24You have to remember your tactics, remember what you rehearse,
19:27just making sure that you can do your job.
19:36With urban warfare, you can never fully train for it.
19:39You'll never fully be ready.
19:41It's an execution that you don't have to have
19:43a deliberate thought process behind.
19:46Where you get called upon, you know what you're doing.
19:49It's like a natural movement for you.
19:52You can't see him, but you can't hear him.
19:55The battle starts with simulated airstrikes
19:58on Russian positions.
20:08Heels!
20:24Then they assess the damage.
20:28The drones are being flown before anybody else goes in
20:32as a recon element,
20:34so we have a little bit more of an understanding
20:36of what we're getting ourselves into.
20:41In the Ukraine war,
20:44drones have revolutionized the battlefield.
20:46Whether it's for surveillance,
20:48firing weapons,
20:50or one-way kamikaze drones,
20:52they are now used on an unprecedented scale.
21:00Ukraine alone is thought to be manufacturing
21:02over 50,000 drones every week.
21:09And nowadays, with large-scale combat operations,
21:12drones are a shaping factor for all the elements.
21:15It's created a new warfare that not very many people
21:18know how to prepare for or know how to react to.
21:23Drones are a huge threat.
21:27But ultimately, it's boots on the ground
21:29that must take the land back.
21:31Yeah, now, we're good, we're good, we're good.
21:34It's a big adrenaline rush,
21:36and it can be very overstimulating.
21:57You never know everything that's going to be in that building
22:00that you go into.
22:10It's exciting, being that high-tempo,
22:13keeping the aggression.
22:15You want to get in,
22:17because not only do you have just the individual buildings,
22:19but you have surrounding buildings
22:20that threats could come from.
22:22It's just getting in, doing what you need to do,
22:24and then getting out of there as fast as possible.
22:27That's it, that's it!
22:30That's all I'm doing!
22:31That's all I'm doing!
22:32That's all I'm doing, coming through, coming through!
22:34Coming through!
22:38It's not just as simple as one building with no furniture.
22:42There's floors, there's windows, doorways.
22:50And you have to assess every little thing.
22:53If there's going to be an enemy prisoner of war,
22:55if there's an enemy combatant,
22:57if there's hostile or non-hostiles in the room.
23:01So there's just so many moving parts
23:02that you just always have to be prepared for.
23:05You have to really be self-aware of your surroundings,
23:08and it can be a little overwhelming.
23:09It's not just as simple as one thing.
23:18Fire!
23:20Fire!
23:20Let's go, let's go!
23:22Let's go, let's go!
23:23Coming through!
23:24Coming through!
23:25Coming through!
23:32Around them, Poles, Lithuanians and Czechs
23:37take on the other buildings.
23:42It's all a bunch of moving parts,
23:44and we're all hand-in-hand.
23:46If one nation has a mess-up,
23:49all the nations are going to suffer for it.
23:51We all have to be on the same page
23:52and working simultaneously together.
24:00Roger that!
24:01Coming down!
24:02Coming down!
24:02Friendly coming down!
24:04Friendly coming down!
24:05Friendly coming down!
24:06The worst outcome here is a friendly casualty.
24:08Just to avoid that at all costs is tremendously important.
24:11Right, let's get him out!
24:12Get him out!
24:14With POWs taken in,
24:16the injured are evacuated.
24:19Guys!
24:20Yeah, let's go!
24:22If they want it out,
24:24we'll still provide security and security.
24:35After 17 minutes of intense action,
24:38the town is recaptured.
24:51Please sit down.
24:52Back at HQ,
24:54it's time for the commander's debrief.
24:56Hi, girl.
24:57Can you give me a quick update?
25:00And the Polans are getting some good identifications
25:04and lessons learned
25:05on how we can improve our own fighting process
25:08of profile and presence.
25:10So the exercise is going as planned.
25:12I think we're learning a lot,
25:14definitely with the forces on the ground,
25:15up to 14 different nations working together.
25:18And that's key,
25:19especially if we want to have cohesion in the alliance
25:22and we want to display a credible deterrence.
25:27There is no military threat
25:29in our area of operations against us.
25:33But that could potentially escalate very quickly.
25:37And we need to be ready for that situation.
25:39We're not at peace,
25:41but we're definitely not at war.
25:44We're somewhere in between.
25:48Coming up,
25:50NATO in the air.
25:53We're with the eyes in the sky.
25:54We're with the men and women
25:56watching the Russians 24-7.
26:01And following British top guns
26:03to see if they're ready
26:05to defend the troops on the ground.
26:07You have long-range strikes
26:08into close air support scenarios.
26:10You've got defensive air-to-air scenarios as well.
26:26In just 24 hours,
26:28NATO's biggest battle of the year,
26:31the finale of exercise's steadfast dart,
26:33will begin.
26:35The Allied reaction force
26:37will fight a simulated Russian army
26:39in a trench war.
26:41But to succeed,
26:43this multinational group,
26:45all just arriving at the scene,
26:47will need to fight as one.
26:49Move!
26:50Go!
26:51Hurry, hurry, hurry!
26:52The main fundamental goal that we have
26:54is to see how we can operate together
26:57with separate partners
26:58we may never have worked with before.
27:01Ah!
27:03Myself, I've been hosting a French officer
27:05from Saint-Cyrs school in France.
27:08It's been a really great opportunity
27:10to be able to practice other languages.
27:18Not only will these troops
27:20need to communicate perfectly,
27:23they'll also need to handle
27:24the other nation's kid.
27:36We work with some of the Greek army.
27:40We also have worked with Bravo Company,
27:42151st Battalion from the Romanians,
27:44and that was a really good opportunity.
27:46They were really keen to work with us,
27:48really keen to work with them.
27:50We've done trenches with them
27:51and looked at what they do
27:52and they've looked at how we do things.
27:57We've been doing an integration piece
27:59with the Romanian engineers today.
28:03Mainly to test the new Krakatoa.
28:05The Krakatoa is a small-shaped charge
28:08which can be used similar to a Claymore,
28:10but it can also be used to penetrate
28:13through vehicles and equipment.
28:15Fire in the hole!
28:22As British troops embed alongside their allies...
28:25Fire!
28:28..there's one threat
28:29that's putting them all in danger.
28:32That danger comes from above.
28:37Being just a few miles from the front line,
28:40they're critically exposed to air attack.
28:43I have a fixed wing moving north to west.
28:46Possibly S, correction,
28:49Sierra uniform, 3-4.
28:51I'm observing over.
28:54Zero, I say again.
28:56Sighting report as at 1-4-0-9.
29:00At my grid, 6-9-9.
29:03Possibly patrolling.
29:05Possibly height.
29:07I'm observing over.
29:08The challenges that they'll face, of course,
29:11is that Russia still has
29:12significant air and warfare capabilities.
29:15So that would be at risk.
29:18Even after three years of war,
29:20Russia's air force remains the second largest in the world.
29:26With over 1,000 fighter jets and bombers at its command,
29:29left unchallenged,
29:30it would seriously threaten NATO ground forces within hours.
29:39Countering the threat,
29:40the alliance is testing whether it can control the skies
29:43before Russia does.
29:46NATO, do you see?
29:48Zero, stand by.
29:51Okay.
29:5230,000 feet above the troops,
29:55we are given unique access
29:56to NATO's Airborne Warning and Control System,
29:59or AWACS.
30:02Really?
30:02Come on, let's give it a go.
30:05Packed with cutting-edge radar and sensors,
30:08it scans the skies and the ground below,
30:12giving the alliance a real-time understanding
30:14of Russia's intentions.
30:19So this is where the weapons team sits.
30:23So we're the eyes in the sky.
30:30We can see beyond what the fighters can see with their radar,
30:37with our radar picture.
30:39So with that information,
30:41we could potentially tell them
30:42where opposing aircraft are
30:44or where opposing surface-to-air missile systems would be.
30:48And then we communicate that tactical situation
30:52to them over the radio
30:54and over the link system that we have.
30:58Looking 500 miles into Russian territory,
31:02Master Sergeant Maria can guide Allied attack aircraft
31:05right to a target.
31:08On weekly missions,
31:09they fly all along NATO's border with Russia to do this.
31:13This is us here.
31:16That's where we're flying right now.
31:18So you have Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
31:23and then South Korea, Kaliningrad.
31:26That's fairly normal as well for us right now.
31:31With tensions escalating,
31:33reconnaissance sorties have surged.
31:38As have Russia's provocations.
31:44Aggressive manoeuvres designed to stop surveillance.
31:50If a war kicks off,
31:52this crew will be a prime target.
31:56I think the atmosphere in general
31:59was more intense.
32:00It felt more strange
32:01to know that there was war in Europe again.
32:06But we quickly got used to flying these missions
32:09a lot closer to the border.
32:13Flying at such close proximity to Russia,
32:16the team runs regular drills.
32:18Here, please do check this.
32:20Everybody on oxygen on 100%.
32:22Please report to the AT.
32:24This scenario
32:25is training to respond to a high-altitude attack
32:29leading to cabin decompression.
32:41This is the AC simulated simulator.
32:45Simulated emergency is terminated.
32:47Please reveal, restore, and report
32:49when the capability is bigger, please.
32:52Thank you so much.
32:53By training for every possibility,
32:56NATO's 14 AWACS
32:57can keep a constant eye on Russia 24-7,
33:02allowing commanders to prevent surprise attacks
33:05and call on support from across the alliance.
33:13In the Mediterranean,
33:15the world's largest warship
33:17is ready to react.
33:20This U.S. nuclear-powered carrier
33:22is a floating city.
33:2625 decks high.
33:29It's 75 combat aircraft
33:33can fly up to 270 sorties every day.
33:37And amongst the 4,500 crew,
33:42British pilots from the Royal Navy.
33:48One of the great things
33:50about the U.K.-U.S. relationship
33:51is that it feels very homely
33:53when we get on board.
33:55Culturally, everything like that
33:57is very familiar to us,
33:59which is great.
34:02Lieutenant Phillips
34:03has been working with the Americans
34:05for two years.
34:07He now routinely takes part
34:09in their missions.
34:12Training is something
34:13that we still need to undertake
34:14whilst we are deployed.
34:16Day-to-day role primarily
34:17is to fly three out of every four days
34:19that we're in the cockpit.
34:22And on those fly days,
34:22that can look like a long
34:2412-15-hour day typically,
34:26from a mission planning cycle
34:27to a briefing cycle
34:29to the execution of the mission
34:31to then the debrief cycle as well.
34:33Might be one or two cycles in there,
34:35so we might get airborne
34:36once or twice in that flight day from there.
34:43Even though the carrier
34:45is based in the Mediterranean,
34:47Lieutenant Phillips' missions
34:49can take him hundreds of miles away.
34:51We're operating over
34:53the Eastern Europe area,
34:54the Baltics.
35:00You have long-range strikes
35:02into close air support scenarios,
35:04you've got defensive air-to-air scenarios as well.
35:11Mission start with the F-18
35:13locked into the carrier's launch system.
35:15Once the flight deck is clear,
35:19it's hurled from zero to 150 miles per hour
35:23in under three seconds.
35:28Now the mission shifts
35:29from speed to stamina.
35:33Any time that we're going over a certain distance,
35:35typically that involves
35:36a lot of air-to-air refuelling.
35:40You can refuel multiple times in a flight,
35:42upwards of three, four times
35:44that would extend to the range of the F-18.
35:53After a final refuel,
35:55the F-18 can begin its bombing run.
36:02In wartime,
36:03even long-range missions like this
36:05will be flown multiple times a day.
36:09But it's no easy ride.
36:11Sometimes we're limited by
36:12how long we're sat in the seat of the aircraft.
36:15I can get a pretty painful
36:15sat on the seat of an ejection seat
36:17for a long time.
36:18In a war,
36:21sorties like these
36:22will provide essential air cover
36:24for the troops on the ground.
36:27Now,
36:27for exercise's steadfast start,
36:30the land battle can commence.
36:34Coming up,
36:35British soldiers storm the trenches,
36:40training to take on the Russians
36:41day and night.
36:45Let's up these British now.
36:47But do they have what it takes
36:49to win the day?
36:50The threat changes all the time,
36:52so we have to be ready.
37:0513 miles from the Ukrainian border,
37:08NATO's largest exercise of the year,
37:11steadfast start,
37:12is moving into the final act.
37:15For three weeks,
37:171,500 vehicles and 10,000 troops,
37:20including 2,600 Brits,
37:23relentlessly advanced across Europe.
37:27Now it's time for the combat stage to begin.
37:33NATO, through its exercising,
37:35will always be prepared.
37:36This is the east of land.
37:38This is about as far east as we can come.
37:40And this sends a message to Russia and our other adversaries.
37:50Our troops,
37:52supported by forces from eight Allied nations,
37:55will launch a coordinated assault
37:57on an enemy-held trench system.
38:00Mission success will be achieved
38:03when they're completely cleared.
38:08If you are to evict an enemy
38:10from land that he has occupied,
38:13the only way you evict them
38:14is to get your soldiers into a position
38:16where they can kill them,
38:19force them to retreat,
38:20or force them to surrender.
38:27Within days of arriving at the training base,
38:31the battle starts with airstrikes
38:33on enemy positions.
38:38Followed by artillery.
38:41Having six L-118 light guns
38:44firing in conjunction with one another.
38:47Fire!
38:49Lays down that suppressing fire
38:51that's required
38:52to support the close combat elements.
38:54Come on, fire!
39:08After 30 minutes of softening targets,
39:12the deadliest part of the exercise commences.
39:16The infantry's going in.
39:27They're firing live rounds
39:29at simulated Russian targets
39:30in the trenches.
39:33Injury or death
39:34from friendly fire
39:35is a real possibility.
39:38But it's a type of warfare
39:39they must master.
39:54Wake it up, wake it up, wake it up!
39:56Now,
39:57it's into the trenches.
40:10Coordination here
40:11is essential.
40:15Happy?
40:16Happy.
40:17Yeah, so keep yourself
40:17tight into the right.
40:31I'll get a bunker.
40:33There's a bunker position.
40:34Bunker position up there.
40:36Happy.
40:37Do you want a brief there, right?
40:39Hand, they close in.
40:40Bunker.
40:41Go in.
40:42Go in to take a bunker position.
40:50All right, get on him.
40:52Let's go.
40:52Push forward.
40:54Right, on back.
40:55An hour into the fight,
40:56they take the trench.
40:58But in a war with Russia,
41:00this would be just the first section
41:02of a trench network
41:03that could stretch hundreds of miles.
41:08It's going to be a war
41:09of absolute utmost brutality.
41:13Warfare on a scale
41:14not seen in Europe since 1945.
41:17Stop that gun!
41:19Rotating it, yeah?
41:20Why don't you have a stoppage?
41:21Get it down, get down, get down.
41:25On a modern battlefield,
41:27many of these soldiers
41:29could be wounded
41:30or killed.
41:32In steadfast dart,
41:34NATO's medics begin
41:35taking in simulated casualties.
41:37Injury sustained
41:38is a penetrating chest wound.
41:41Symptoms, his air weight is clear,
41:43breathing rate is 30.
41:45Josh, any pain on your legs?
41:46So the kind of medical scenarios
41:48that we'd be expecting
41:48would be things like
41:50gunshot wounds,
41:53crush injuries.
41:54OK, wiggle your toes
41:55up and down for me.
41:56Which could be from vehicle rolls
41:57that you would expect
41:58from that point of wounding
42:00towards the front line.
42:01Got any pain in your tummy
42:02at all, Josh?
42:03It hurts.
42:04It hurts up there, doesn't it?
42:05We can hold patients
42:06for up to 72 hours
42:08in our ward,
42:09but essentially our aim
42:10is just to get them
42:11to a state where they can
42:12be moved on
42:13and put into next level
42:14of surgery
42:15to properly fix them up.
42:16Right upper quadrant.
42:18Got lungs sliding.
42:19OK, large amount of blood,
42:20so confirmed left haemoneumor thorax.
42:22Let's get the chest straight.
42:29Reaching in 10 seconds.
42:31Outside,
42:32the battle continues
42:33into the night,
42:35taking into account
42:36the drone warfare tactics
42:38seen in Ukraine.
42:46There's multiple levels.
42:47You've got threats
42:48to your front,
42:49to the sides
42:50and outside the trench itself.
42:53OK, give it to someone.
42:54Get rid.
42:56Get rid of it.
42:57Let's up these races now.
43:00We've got to train at night
43:01because as technology
43:02has improved,
43:03as equipment has improved
43:04on the battlefields
43:05in Ukraine at the moment,
43:06it now comes down
43:07to the individual skills
43:08and drills of our infanteers
43:09getting hard, fast,
43:10and aggressive
43:11to deliver the effect
43:12to the enemy.
43:22As dawn breaks,
43:24the last trench
43:25is finally secured.
43:27NATO's biggest battle
43:28of the year is over.
43:30We've definitely achieved
43:31the objective we wanted to.
43:33It's been a great demonstration
43:34of the force that we have
43:35projecting the power
43:36that we have at our disposal
43:37against a common adversary.
43:40We've certainly understood
43:42our allied nations
43:44within the ARF
43:45much better
43:46than I think we may have done
43:46before deploying here.
43:51We're stronger together.
43:52Friends are good
43:53on the day of battle
43:54is the regiment's Gaelic motto
43:55and that's definitely true
43:58and I think the ARF
43:59represents that.
44:05We've travelled
44:06over 1,000 kilometres
44:07to get here.
44:08Certainly looking forward
44:09to getting home
44:09to some slightly
44:10of all the climates, though.
44:17At Steadfast Starts HQ
44:19in Naples,
44:20Commander Carl
44:21and the team
44:21who helped plan
44:22the exercise
44:23are reviewing its success.
44:25...across to Netherlands
44:26through Germany
44:27at the same time
44:28with vehicles loaded down...
44:29I believe in the NATO alliance.
44:31I believe in deterrence
44:32through 32 nations.
44:35After Steadfast Starts,
44:36I would personally say now
44:37that we are stronger than ever.
44:42Were we planning 20 years ago
44:44for Russia incursion
44:46onto NATO territory?
44:47We probably weren't.
44:47We're looking at Middle East,
44:48we're looking at Iran.
44:49The threat changes all the time.
44:51So we have to be ready
44:52and we do that
44:53by training and working together
44:54and exercising our regional plans
44:56to make sure
44:57that we don't have vulnerabilities,
44:58to make sure we are a credible
45:00deterrence force.
45:03To be able to move
45:04so many soldiers,
45:06supplies, fuel, ammunition,
45:08large machinery
45:09across many different nations,
45:12across many different borders.
45:15If we can't do it at peacetime,
45:17how are we going to do it in conflict?
45:18So just rehearsing that in itself
45:21was of the utmost importance
45:23and the ability
45:24to actually do it
45:25smoothly for the most part
45:27proved our ability
45:29to respond quickly
45:31to a threat.
45:34We are definitely deterring Russia
45:36and they know it.
45:39But Putin wants to achieve his aims.
45:43He continues to build up
45:44his industrial capacity,
45:48his military capacity.
45:51And we need to be prepared for that.
45:55Military leaders
45:56believe this has been the year
45:58that NATO rose to the challenge
46:00posed by Putin.
46:01But to be truly battle ready,
46:05NATO's going to need more troops
46:06and more firepower
46:08to deter and to defend.
46:13I think the message
46:15about the need to be ready
46:17for the worst case
46:19is beginning to be understood
46:23more widely.
46:24I don't think we're
46:24where we need to be yet, though.
46:27How do we generate
46:28the force numbers needed?
46:31Because take the size of it.
46:32British Army, for example,
46:33an army of 70,000
46:35is nothing like big enough.
46:37We need to prepare for war
46:38in order to keep the peace.
46:40That is what deterrence is about.
46:48The storm may have passed,
46:49but now he's got
46:50all that angry Arctic air
46:51to deal with.
46:52Stream or watch
46:53The Great Icelandic Swim
46:54with Ross Edgley
46:55tomorrow at 8
46:56here on Channel 4.
46:57And at 9,
46:58hope she's got a rail card.
47:00Alice Roberts
47:00travels 1,300 miles
47:02exploring the Roman Empire
47:04by train.
47:05If you can't catch it,
47:06stream it.
47:07Next tonight,
47:08new Google Box.
47:09new Google Box.
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