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frontline our soldiers facing putin s01e01
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00:05On the ground! Oi! On the ground!
00:11Guys, Donald is running through.
00:13Yeah, roger.
00:14It's a bank, Theo.
00:18Yeah!
00:30We appear ever closer to a full-scale war with Russia.
00:36But are our forces battle-ready?
00:43With Russia testing NATO's resolve all along its eastern borders,
00:48we have exclusive access to the war games testing our defences against a Russian attack.
00:59Tonight, NATO soldiers are challenged to race across Europe to support the front line.
01:06Right, so obviously the plan is to leave in the 0600.
01:13And we're on Estonia's vulnerable border with Russia,
01:17as soldiers showcase their military might to deter Putin.
01:23It's been tough. It's certainly been a real test of character.
01:27A lot of the borders with Russia are vulnerable, and that's why we test it.
01:32We're with the British cooks feeding the front line soldiers.
01:36We've met about 1,500 people within this week, so the hours do rack up.
01:41Like, the other night, I did 25 hours straight.
01:45And we're in the skies right on Russia's border, with the pilots keeping watch.
01:51The fighters that are being controlled right now,
01:54we can see beyond what the fighters can see with their radar.
02:00Fire!
02:00Fire!
02:03Fire!
02:03As forces across Europe…
02:07...mobilize their troops…
02:11…we are behind the scenes on land, at sea, and in the air…
02:18…with the men and women training to be our first line of defence…
02:24protecting our borders
02:29and stopping Putin
02:34from expanding his war in Europe.
02:54This is the very edge of Europe.
02:59Sharing over 180 miles of border with Russia,
03:04Estonia is where Western military chiefs believe Vladimir Putin
03:08could attack next if he succeeds in Ukraine.
03:14So right now we are approximately 10 meters from Russian territory.
03:23Staring directly at the Russian threat,
03:26border guards like Peter Moran are the West's eyes and ears.
03:30They are the first line of defence.
03:39So as you can see, there is the Estonian border marker,
03:44the Russian border marker,
03:45and the border line is between those two border markers.
03:53The situation has become quite a lot more tense
03:56and we are, you know, fully expecting that something will happen.
04:03Maybe a military invasion from Russia.
04:07Before dawn this morning,
04:09President Putin unleashed a full-scale invasion.
04:12Not since the end of the Second World War has Europe seen a darker day.
04:17That was February 2022.
04:21The moment Russia stormed through Ukrainian border posts.
04:24Now, countries bordering Russia fear history is about to repeat itself.
04:32A fear exacerbated recently by Russian fighter jets
04:36brazenly violating Estonian airspace.
04:40This is where it's feared things could suddenly explode.
04:45And right on cue, a Russian border guard appears,
04:49reminding Peter just how close danger lies.
04:53Yeah, I think we should be more discreet.
05:01Peter and all the defence forces here know that they won't be able to hold off a Russian invasion alone.
05:08But fortunately for Estonia, they are not alone.
05:15Unlike Ukraine, Estonia has been a member of NATO, the world's largest military alliance since 2004.
05:24When Russian forces seized Crimea in 2014,
05:29NATO stationed soldiers from across the world here.
05:34We saw what transpired in Ukraine.
05:37And we need to be prepared for further incursions or further moves from Russia into other NATO territory.
05:47Putin wants to achieve his aims.
05:49He wants to get the territory that he believes is rightly his.
05:53And we need to be prepared for that.
05:55We are surging our presence in all of those bordering countries with Russia.
06:02This threat is very real.
06:03And we have to take it seriously moving forward.
06:12NATO calls their permanent deployment here.
06:14Enhanced forward presence battle groups.
06:17Supporting all of Estonia's land, air and sea defences.
06:24Since 2017, the NATO battle group here in Estonia has been led by Britain,
06:30which has around 1,300 soldiers permanently based here.
06:37The deputy supreme commander of all NATO forces in Europe,
06:41at the time when these forward land forces battle groups were created,
06:44was General Richard Schereff.
06:50The enhanced forward battle groups, they were put there as a sort of tripwire force.
06:54From any objective military judgment,
06:59Russia is not going to be deterred by 1,000 allied soldiers,
07:02from a military perspective.
07:04They might pause from a political perspective,
07:07because Putin would know that if he attacked Estonia,
07:11he's at war with NATO.
07:21NATO's Estonian base sits just 90 miles from the border with Russia.
07:28The soldiers stationed here train throughout the year,
07:32in conditions which mirror that which they're likely to experience
07:36if facing an invading Russian army.
07:40Clearing towards Bravo 1 to the left-hand side,
07:42barricading to the right,
07:43we're going to start clearing to the right-hand side of Bravo 6.
07:45Roger.
07:47We're out here in Estonia,
07:48as part of the forward land forces battle group.
07:52And we're out on the training area,
07:54alongside Polish, Estonian, American and French colleagues.
08:03In the event of a Russian invasion,
08:06these infantry soldiers know that fighting will take place in networks of trenches just like this.
08:21Today, British, French and Estonian soldiers,
08:26are nearing the end of a seven-day exercise deep in the forests of northern Estonia.
08:33Practicing how to storm and clear trench corridors metre by metre.
08:38What we are seeing today in the modern battlefield
08:42is that the trenches have not disappeared anywhere.
08:46They're still there, they're still valid.
08:48If you want to protect yourself, you kind of have to dig in.
08:52A platoon company of around 30 soldiers
08:55methodically make their way through one of the trench networks
08:58that could soon litter this entire border area,
09:02just as they've scarred the front line in Ukraine.
09:10It looks like something from the First World War.
09:15But trench combat is a massive part of the conflict in Ukraine.
09:22The Donbas region alone has over 250 miles of front line,
09:28marked by fortified trenches.
09:32It's a brutal, oppressive and protractive form of combat.
09:39But it's something these NATO troops must be prepared for.
09:46This is about getting your infantry with the bayonet in to kill the enemy
09:50in exactly the same way the Romans did.
09:53It's as brutal as that.
09:55It's still a war in which men have to fight brutally face to face.
10:00This is total war.
10:02A war of absolute, utmost brutality.
10:06Warfare on a scale not seen in Europe since 1945.
10:12We're out here understanding the ground,
10:14understanding how the conditions are in these Baltic states
10:17if anything was to happen.
10:19Not just understanding surviving in these conditions.
10:22If something did happen, we are ready and the conditions are set for us to go.
10:28Despite the British-led presence here, in reality,
10:33NATO simply does not have enough troops stationed in Estonia
10:37to hold off Russia.
10:40Major military reinforcements from across the alliance
10:43are going to need to arrive fast if Russian President Vladimir Putin
10:48were to launch another invasion.
10:51I would imagine it might be at least a couple of weeks before any external forces
10:57that got up into Estonia, depending on the amount of warning we had.
11:03If you're in Estonia, you could be two weeks without any additional reinforcements.
11:10And this is why, throughout 2025, NATO has been testing its brand new Allied Reaction Force,
11:18a rapidly deployable major land army, able to respond to crises within days anywhere in Europe
11:25and show Moscow that aggression against any member state
11:29will meet an immediate, heavy response.
11:37coming up.
11:40We're with the British army mechanics, keeping NATO's new Allied Reaction Force on the move.
11:47Come on, Slade. It's your time to shine.
11:51And...
11:51This is Estonian warship, PAPA 6732.
11:55A major escalation in tensions between NATO and Russia on the Baltic Sea.
12:00Alter your force to 105 immediately. Over.
12:14In the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy
12:18sits one of the world's top military sites.
12:22It's the NATO Headquarters for Allied Operations.
12:26The epicentre of the West's defence against all military threats to Europe.
12:37Welcome to Joint Force Command, Naples.
12:47So this is the slightly longer way to work, but it's like a right turn, right turn, right turn.
12:54Now we're going to make the next step to the operational command,
12:57where we're going to go into Joint Force Command Naples,
12:59which is the operational command for NATO South.
13:04Great opportunity to look into the Headquarters and see what it actually looks like from the inside.
13:11Meet Commander Carl Harwood.
13:1336 years in the Navy.
13:15He plays a key role in NATO's military deterrence across Europe.
13:20Heading the media ops team.
13:23The Headquarters is about 950 people.
13:28From about 25 of the 32 NATO nations.
13:32And of the 950, around about 100 Brits.
13:38To enter this building requires high-level security clearance.
13:43Cameras are rarely allowed inside.
13:49Since the war in Ukraine, headquarters like this one have overseen a significant increase in the number and scale of
13:57military exercises NATO runs.
14:00In regions right up against the alliance's border with Russia.
14:06So this floor is logistics.
14:09So we talk about that big machine that move people, machines, armour, ammunition, food.
14:16So they sustain and maintain that fleet of personnel, that fleet of vehicles in order to support those operations.
14:24At the heart of JFC Naples are the ops centres.
14:30Highly secure command hubs, manned 24-7.
14:34The largest military exercise of this year, called Steadfast Dart, is being run from inside these safe bunkers.
14:42So this is where we talk about crisis management, the Sedana Room.
14:48So the showcase exercise is exercise Steadfast Dart, so it's the biggest exercise for the NATO alliance for 2025.
14:59Steadfast Dart is an exercise designed to test just how fast an army of thousands of reinforcements can get across
15:06Europe to support frontline soldiers on NATO's eastern borders.
15:1110,000 troops, 1,500 fighting vehicles, 2,000 miles to cover.
15:18A land and sea force big enough to send a strong deterrence message to Putin.
15:24This is not for fun.
15:26It's a race against time.
15:29Every minute crucial to defending Europe.
15:35We had the British contingent headed up by the Yorks, so they're based in York, transiting across to the ports,
15:43across to the Netherlands through Germany.
15:44At the same time, with vehicles loaded down at Marchwood, and we had the strategic roll-on, roll-off ferries
15:50going around, transiting through the Mediterranean into Greece, where they're offloaded.
16:02The starting gun for Steadfast Dart has been fired.
16:08First stop is this Greek port.
16:11The British Army is arriving from Southampton to face the challenge of offloading hundreds of fighting vehicles at speed.
16:18Something they'll have to do for real if Putin attacks a NATO country.
16:27What?
16:28I want to say tap.
16:29Is there anything already in it?
16:31Yeah.
16:33My name is Sergeant Paul Heap.
16:36At the moment, we had 256 vehicles, different variants of vehicles, plus three containers that is coming out.
16:47My role is to ensure that the kit that's coming off on the cargo gets off safely enough and without
16:53any damage or anything like that.
16:56I've gone now 34 years.
17:00It will be military.
17:01Yes, I started serving the Queen, Her Majesty, and from then, so I've been doing military service since then.
17:10These British Army vehicles are rolling off the ship as part of the first ever deployment of NATO's new Allied
17:16Reaction Force.
17:21Steadfast Dart is challenging this new high readiness force to deploy to the Eastern Fronts of Europe in support of
17:27countries bordering Russia within 10 days or fewer.
17:33In command of these land forces for this first major trial are the British.
17:41The Allied Reaction Force is designed to respond to crisis on behalf of NATO.
17:46We've sent hundreds of vehicles and troops all the way across Europe, 2,000 miles, driving from Germany into Romania.
17:54We've sent thousands of troops in by air, hundreds of vehicles by ship into both Germany and here in Greece.
18:00We're really demonstrating our capability to go exactly where NATO needs us at very short notice.
18:09With the kit finally off the ship, it's time for the vehicles to get a proper once-over.
18:15Waiting in the wings, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
18:21Their job, check over every engine in a matter of hours, as they would have to do in a real
18:27war.
18:30Morning, Corporal Casper.
18:33Meet Craftsman Peters.
18:35She's an army vehicle mechanic.
18:37It's her first deployment.
18:39And her job is to make sure all these vehicles are battle-ready.
18:45The team's got just 24 hours to inspect all 256 warfighter machines that rolled off the ship.
18:52It's a race against the clock.
18:54Can they pull it off?
18:58The guys have been doing their first parade on the vehicles to make sure that everything is good and the
19:02vehicles are prepped and ready for the road.
19:06There have been a few issues with the trucks where the trans oil has been overflow and we've been draining
19:11that oil and making sure that it's at the correct level.
19:15Starting up!
19:21Craftsman Peters' job is a vital part of a warfighting army.
19:28So if there's not enough air pressure, which is here, then you'll hear a beeping sound.
19:38She's checking these heavy transporters, as well as the lightweight protected foxhound and more heavily armoured Mastiff patrol vehicles.
19:50Leave it rolling, come here. Switch!
19:56And she needs to fix any faults first, here on the side of the port, without having a garage full
20:02of high-tech equipment at her disposal.
20:07Being a vehicle mechanic, it's hard work and a lot of dedication towards it, because the vehicles are basically non
20:19-tasked worry.
20:25We're looking to see the level of the trans oil at the moment, to make sure it's not overflow.
20:31So once he revved up the engine a bit, he get it warm, all the circulation of the oil will
20:36go through, and then we'll check the level of the oil to make sure it's not overflow.
20:44Ah, Peters! Grab the master switch, put it in fact, it's done.
20:48I think it's on.
20:49I think it's on.
20:50Yeah, it's on.
20:51Winton!
20:52Do you need to go up?
20:53Come on, son.
20:54It's your time to shine.
20:57So we probably might need a breaker bar.
20:59Got it.
21:00Got it.
21:00Got it.
21:02I wouldn't say I think I would have ended up as an army mechanic, but I always wanted a job
21:08where I can wear a uniform.
21:1117 years ago, I was probably running around thinking that I'm going to be a accountant in some bank and
21:19walking in heels and all that bits, but it never happened.
21:24Right, well, go and start her up, do the gearbox check again.
21:28Starting up!
21:33My stepfather's a weaker mechanic. My dad is also a weaker mechanic. My dad, he hasn't trust me since he
21:40doesn't believe I'm actually a weaker mechanic, to be fair.
21:42Just let him know what he's got, and then potentially just stick that two litres straight into Saudi's truck.
21:50It's the basics of what we do in the army.
21:54Some of those vehicle checks are things that we would be doing wherever we are in whatever part of the
21:58world.
21:58We need to make sure that our capability is ready for whatever eventuality we could be rolling into.
22:04The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the criticality of logistics and sustainment of the force.
22:13Testing how fast troops and firepower can reach the front line to reinforce national defences is what Exercise Steadfast Dart
22:22is all about.
22:24It's not just training. It's preparing for war.
22:29They are going to need reinforcement really quickly.
22:33And it's a simple equation. The readier you are, the less time they're going to have to hold on.
22:40The less ready, that thin line is going to crack pretty quickly.
22:47Coming up.
22:50We go inside the cockpit of NATO's state-of-the-art intelligence-gathering aircraft.
22:56NATO's, you're a six. Good for takeoff on it.
22:59Really?
23:00Perfect.
23:04And can a makeshift kitchen in a freezing tent feed 400 famished fighters?
23:11My oven is literally just a metal box with a door on it.
23:14So yeah, literally 400 out of that. It's hard going. It's long.
23:27We're on the road with the British Army.
23:31Right, so obviously the plan is leaving the 0600.
23:36Hauling troops and tons of warfighting kit thousands of miles across Europe.
23:44It's certainly the largest deployment in a NATO context, and certainly from the British Army in the last 20 years.
23:49With over 1,500 vehicles deploying from the UK and over 10,000 personnel.
23:57This is NATO's biggest war game of 2025.
24:02Exercise Steadfast Dart.
24:05The mission, to test if this was a real war.
24:09How quickly NATO's new Allied reaction force can reach and support frontline troops in the event of a Russian attack.
24:18Steadfast Dart is a very important proof of concept for that deployment of troops and equipment to the eastern flank.
24:26A 2,000 mile journey to the eastern borders of Europe requires a series of pit stops to rest and
24:33refuel.
24:35Today, the British are arriving at their final transit camp, still 100 miles from their destination.
24:49This is Camp Constanta, a former Soviet Red Army barracks.
24:56Over 1,000 British soldiers have passed through this camp in the last week.
25:00They eat, sleep, and move on in a matter of hours.
25:07I don't care if your friends are in other rooms, OK?
25:09You're just going to go into them two rooms because the building's nearly clean to hand over tomorrow.
25:12Scoff tonight is a meat feast with, like, chips, burgers, there's loads of stuff going on.
25:17Turn around, follow me, we'll go that way, we'll go to the accommodation.
25:24Meet Sergeant Hayes in charge of Camp Constanta.
25:29It's known as a convoy support centre, or CSC.
25:35The purpose of the CSCs is to give the soldiers the amount of rest before they deploy it.
25:40They've been driving a long way to fix any of their vehicle problems they've got,
25:44allow them to eat, OK, so one of the main things we do here would be feed them,
25:49so the cookhouse is just behind.
25:52The biggest thing for them to do now is they are in forced rest.
25:56Cool, find a bed space, both bed spaces, we'll top up up in here.
26:01We got the odd question, can we leave camp, can we go and do this or the other,
26:04but most of the time it was, no, you're here to rest, you've got, you know,
26:07you're going on exercise tomorrow, you're going to do more driving.
26:09It didn't sit well with some people, but most people just understood,
26:12understood what they were meant to do.
26:16It's not just shut-eye the troops need at camps like this.
26:20Keeping them fuelled with hot grub is a mission all of its own.
26:23This is the cookhouse, this is where the soldiers got their meals.
26:27They had, they had two meals with us, so they had dinner and breakfast.
26:33So we've got the, got the chef in action here.
26:35So we've got Corporal Spencer on the burgers.
26:38We've got Private Goodache over there.
26:40And then you've got Corporal Brooks, Corporal Brooks is the head chef.
26:44This is Corporal Brooks, Army chef extraordinaire, with 23 years service.
26:52Well, we've fed about one and a half thousand people within this week,
26:56so we've literally gone through probably about two ton of potatoes,
27:02gone through to about 2,000 burgers, hot dogs, probably about the same.
27:08Today, Corporal Brooks has just four hours to rustle up dinner
27:11for several hundred freshly arrived soldiers.
27:17And he's got to have it on the table for 6pm sharp,
27:20so the troops can rack up the rest they need to hit the road again at first light.
27:26So today we're doing some breaded prawns for the guys' dinner tonight.
27:31So we're literally just panning in it.
27:33From the prawns into the flour, into the eggs, into the breadcrumbs.
27:39It is the same, an army can't move on its empty stomach.
27:43So yeah, so the morale's low, they come in, they get a nice hot scarf,
27:48they come in, they move straight up again.
27:53Corporal Brooks has multiple different dishes to cook
27:56and hundreds of soldiers to feed,
27:58all with just a single gas stove,
28:01which also heats his only oven.
28:05My oven is literally just a metal box with a door on it.
28:09So literally you're in and out of that oven every couple of minutes.
28:13So literally I've got two number 5 cook sets,
28:16which are designed for 50 people per cook set,
28:19so we've only got two.
28:21So yeah, literally 400 out of that.
28:23It's hard going, it's long.
28:29The hours do rack up.
28:30Like the other night I did 25 hours straight.
28:33That's called the Spence as well.
28:35He done 20 hours the other night.
28:37So it depends on the mission.
28:39You know, if you need to be in, you'll have to be in.
28:42This is literally just you.
28:46OK guys, you're going to have two burgers,
28:48this chicken, prawns and this beef fillet,
28:52but it's one choice of eight.
28:54With the troops filing in for dinner,
28:56it's mission accomplished for Corporal Brooks and his chefs.
29:02Corporal Brooks has been unbelievable.
29:04Fillets and prawns, some nights,
29:06some of the stuff he's made in literally two little cook sets
29:10over there in a small oven.
29:12He'd put Gordon Ramsay to shame, honestly, wouldn't you, Brooksie?
29:15It's only Michelin star only in here, isn't it?
29:17Yeah.
29:17Are you the best for the boys or not?
29:24In a war situation,
29:26transit camps like this serve a vital purpose.
29:30Ensuring troops en route to the front line arrive
29:33having had sufficient rest, medical care and food
29:36to be in the best possible shape to fight.
29:41We've got about 2,500 UK service personnel here.
29:45All the things that you need to survive,
29:47food, water, medical treatment,
29:49but it's also the fuel for the vehicles,
29:51it's the spare parts for when things break down,
29:54it's the ammunition for our weapons
29:55and all of the other bits that sort of go with that.
29:59While these well-fed soldiers now bed down for some kip
30:02before pushing further east,
30:09our cameras are allowed inside a live operational classified briefing.
30:15This one at a NATO airfield in northern Germany.
30:20Circling counterclockwise over to the Baltic back here,
30:2325 knots as an average.
30:26Listening in.
30:28The crew of one of NATO's most important intelligence-gathering assets.
30:33There might be some more laws on HF, UHF frequencies,
30:38especially during the night.
30:40Meet the AWACS.
30:43NATO's flying radar station,
30:45providing surveillance, command, control
30:48and communication capabilities across allied countries.
30:55From 30,000 feet, the AWACS's giant spinning radar dome
31:00allows NATO to watch an area the size of Poland,
31:04tracking 300 targets at once.
31:09NATO's, you're a six.
31:10Quick or take off under two seconds.
31:12Zero.
31:13Stand by.
31:14Okay.
31:15We're ready.
31:16Last five.
31:16Yes, last five.
31:18Ready to go pilot.
31:19We can clear your boards there, girl.
31:21Perfect.
31:26Each plane can monitor troop movements
31:28from up to 500 kilometres away.
31:45The AWACS serves as a flying air traffic control
31:48and battle management centre.
31:51Today, it's on a live operation,
31:55keeping a close watch on Russian activity
31:57in the Baltic Sea.
32:00Russia's long been suspected of damaging
32:02and destroying vital infrastructure cables
32:04deep underwater.
32:07And that's what today's mission is all about.
32:12If you would have said, like, half a year ago,
32:14like, oh, we're going to sabotage all that internet cables
32:17and whatever, everybody would have said,
32:19ah, you're crazy, that's not going to happen.
32:21But it is actually happening
32:23that somebody thinks it's a good action
32:25to lower an anchor and plow through the cables.
32:29I mean, all of a sudden, it's a reality
32:31and we have to do our job not to prevent that.
32:36The moment the crew spots a suspicious ship,
32:39they're straight on the radio,
32:42calling in the local Navy and Air Force to check it out.
32:47What we are trying to do is first detect
32:49if there are vessels of interest.
32:51Are they performing any suspicious behaviour?
32:54A ship going from port A to port B
32:57and that starts loitering somewhere in the specific area,
33:00why would you do that?
33:02That kind of stuff is what we're specifically looking for.
33:08There are warnings of a possible serious escalation between NATO and Russia
33:13after an aerial confrontation over the Baltic Sea
33:16and accusations Russia violated NATO's airspace.
33:21The importance of these ongoing AWACS operations became clear
33:25when an oil tanker, suspected of being part of Russia's Shadow Fleet,
33:30entered Estonian territorial waters.
33:33Sanctioned by Britain,
33:36the Estonian Navy immediately attempted to seize the vessel.
33:40This is Estonian warship Papa 6732.
33:46Your request will be denied.
33:50Follow my instructions.
33:52Altern your course to 105 immediately.
33:55Over.
33:57The Russians film from the tanker's bridge
34:00as the Estonians attempt to redirect the vessel to a nearby port for an inspection.
34:07The ship is refusing to follow the Navy's instructions.
34:31This is exactly the kind of flashpoint that could easily spiral into full-scale war.
34:41She's turning towards the storm of the vessel.
34:45Out of nowhere, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet suddenly appears, crossing into NATO airspace.
34:54Its purpose, it would seem, is to intimidate the Estonian military to back down from seizing the tanker.
35:02Estonian authorities said that it violated NATO airspace for close to a minute.
35:08It was then escorted back to Russian waters by the Estonian Navy.
35:18Russia looks to be probing NATO's nerve,
35:21testing whether the Alliance really will stand by every member,
35:25with its shadowy campaign of undersea sabotage in the Baltic Sea.
35:33Coming up, Steadfast Dark gets serious as Marines storm the beaches in a show of force,
35:40right on the edge of the heavily contested Black Sea region.
35:45Dozens of ships, dozens of aircraft, thousands of soldiers.
35:49We were able to demonstrate our capability across huge geographic spans of land.
36:05Today I'm heading off to Mount Whitney to meet the Captain.
36:09The Mount Whitney, or the USS Mount Whitney, has just come back from the Baltic operations as a NATO exercise.
36:17USS Mount Whitney has a command and control platform, controlling a whole multitude of ships and forces across the NATO
36:27Alliance.
36:29We're with Royal Navy Commander, Carl Harwood.
36:33And today, we've been invited on board the US Navy's Europe-based 6th Fleet Command Ship.
36:39Should our forces go to war with Russia, it's this ship that will command NATO's operations at sea.
36:51Permission to come on board?
36:52Hello, please, come forward, how we doing?
36:55Hey, how you doing, Captain Price, Commandant Officer, welcome aboard.
36:57Sir, nice to meet you, I'm Carl Harwood, Command Harwood.
37:01While the British land component of the Allied Reaction Force grinds its way across Europe,
37:07the ARF's amphibious units are running drills to see how fast they can hit the front lines from the sea.
37:14Mount Whitney, as well as showcasing their naval power as a deterrent to Russia.
37:21One of the unique capabilities and why Mount Whitney is probably the most capable command and control ship in the
37:26world
37:26is because we have that capability and the ability to support both the US and NATO forces here on Mount
37:32Whitney.
37:33We are just there as a command and control platform, working to practice command and controlling amphibious forces.
37:40And we need to be ready to go day one, and so every time we do this exercise,
37:43as far as tactics and techniques, procedures change, we want to be up to date,
37:47so when something happens on day one, we are ready to go, enter and operate together, you know, seamlessly, with
37:53no problems.
37:56Around the Mediterranean coast from Naples and up into the Aegean,
38:01this immediate response from NATO's naval forces to any Russian provocation is about to be put to the ultimate test.
38:14This is exercise's steadfast dart from the sea.
38:19NATO's biggest, most complex live exercise of 2025.
38:26Our cameras have been invited onto the Spanish commanding aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I
38:31to first, to witness a trial sea bone assault and storming of an enemy-held beach first-hand.
38:39If we do go to war, this will be the D-Day landings of the modern age.
38:48On deck, Harrier Junk Jets stand by.
38:54Below deck, Marines from across the Alliance are poised, ready and waiting to board dozens of landing craft and Zodiac
39:04ribboats.
39:06On the flight deck, we have multiple aircrafts, so we operate Seahawks.
39:11We have also Harriers on board.
39:13And the Harriers, they do also protection against any threats coming from the land inside.
39:23And the UMS operation is normally the most difficult type of military operation that can exist.
39:28So we have to coordinate many, many aspects of it, like air operations, and we also had an integration of
39:38a special ops team.
39:39We had a landing force, which is like the core of amphibious operations.
39:44In the event of a Russian invasion, this type of full-scale amphibious landing
39:50could be how NATO forces seek to rapidly reclaim land lost to Russia.
39:58The first wave of this operation, hundreds of heavily armed Spanish and Greek Marines launched to attack the shoreline on
40:07Zodiac ribboats.
40:09Once the operation starts, we should get a lot of excitement and tension.
40:20In a real war, these Marines are sitting ducks on the water, reaching the beach en masse and at speed
40:27is their mission.
40:30For this exercise, they are racing the clock.
40:33Own the beach as fast as possible, and then move inland.
40:38The second assault wave follows close behind.
40:41Dozens of landing craft carrying armored vehicles.
40:45The Marines on board are already at the wheel, primed to storm the beach the moment they touch land.
40:54The third wave, Chinook helicopters, Marines hanging off the back, jumping directly into the sea.
41:03These Marines are the first boots on the ground securing the area,
41:07and to make sure that the other parties following them with the landing craft and all the equipment and the
41:13vehicles can arrive safely at the beach.
41:17With F-16 fighter jets capable of flying 1,500 miles an hour, twice the speed of sound,
41:25and Harrier jump jets providing air support for the landing force,
41:28the armored vehicles are able to touch down and roll off.
41:35The landing area here is located to a Greece air base.
41:39They operate the F-16 here, and you can hear them.
41:46The sound of freedom is nice.
41:50The final wave is the most dangerous.
41:53Marines fast roping down from Seahawk helicopters within seconds to avoid being picked off by enemy fire.
42:01In a war situation, both the pilots and the attacking Marines are at huge risk.
42:13Everything went well. All the personnel worked perfectly.
42:19There's a purpose that we do this on the south-eastern flank of NATO here.
42:23It's a clear signal to the east that NATO is ready to defend its territory.
42:29The message is clear, yeah, don't mess with us. Don't mess with NATO.
42:36For the generals in charge of the deployment of NATO's new Allied Reaction Force on both land and sea,
42:43Steadfast Dart is going according to plan.
42:46So far.
42:49We demonstrated our ability to move large quantity of forces, land, sea and air across vast expanses of territory.
43:01Soldiers, supplies, fuel, ammunition, aircraft, large machinery across many different nations, across many different borders,
43:13proved our ability to respond quickly to a threat.
43:22But with the war in Ukraine grinding on, no one here needs a briefing on why these exercises in this
43:29region matter.
43:33All of us are trying to gauge what happens if Ukraine fails.
43:39Russia may see weakness and opportunity.
43:42And they talk openly about reclaiming Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
43:47I could imagine a scenario where they would have launched an attack against NATO country.
43:54Senior political and military figures inside NATO, including the Secretary General,
44:01now speak frankly about Russia posing a credible threat to member states within a few years.
44:07Recent border provocations in Poland, Romania and Estonia highlight the dangers Russia poses to our peace and security.
44:18We assess in NATO that Russia could attack within five to seven years.
44:22Only by preparing for the worst case, which is war with Russia, do we deter war with Russia.
44:29We are at a crossroads in history today.
44:33This is not a moment for more talk. It's time to act.
44:39The one thing our history tells us is that if there is conflict in Europe, it will wash up on
44:45our shores.
44:49We've witnessed NATO stress testing its ability to hurl manpower and firepower at its borders with Russia.
44:57At breakneck speed, as both a defence and a deterrence.
45:03But exercises alone won't stop Putin from probing the West's resolve.
45:09Ultimately, more men and women may soon have to stand ready to risk everything to hold Europe's front line.
45:22Armies have to expand to fight wars of national survival.
45:27What we've got to ensure is that the armed forces of this country reflect properly the political statements about the
45:36first duty of government being to protect the country.
45:38And we've got to hold our political leaders' feet firmly to the fire to ensure that happens.
45:49Next time, after almost a month on the road, the British finally arrive at their front line base.
45:57And the full scale war games begin.
46:01Number one!
46:03Six L-118 light guns lays down that suppressing fire to support the close combat elements.
46:11And we join the Americans defending the Polish border.
46:16Come on in!
46:17First team comes in close these two rooms.
46:22We're not at war, but we're definitely not at peace.
46:28We're somewhere in between.
46:43We're somewhere in between.
46:56We're not at war.
46:59We're somewhere in the background...
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