The New Cold War

The British army in 2017 is in uncharted territory. They have not been at war for three years. After controversial campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is political and public opposition to military intervention overseas. The army's budgets are under pressure and they have the smallest troop numbers since the days of Cromwell. But now with the rise of the so-called Islamic State, the threat of a new cold war in Eastern Europe and famine and conflict in Africa, the British army have to play a new role in a deeply unstable world. Filmed over 18 months, this series goes into the heart of the British army. Through the eyes of the rank and file and the leaders, it shows the challenges of fighting wars, when we are not at war.

In this episode, the army is sent to Estonia, on the frontline of a new cold war. As Russia flexes its muscles in Ukraine and there is a massive build up of troops across Eastern Europe, the risk of miscalculation is very real. Can the British army deter Russian expansion and avoid being drawn into a costly new war?

British soldiers from 5 Rifles are in Canada. They are training for a planned NATO operation along the Russian border. In the last decade, 5 Rifles fought insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq but now, as relationships between the West and Russia have deteriorated, they will be facing a much more formidable enemy. Since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, Russia has rebuilt its military might. It has 770,000 soldiers, more tanks than any other country and spends a third of its national budget on defence.

By contrast, the British army has been hit by years of austerity cuts, leaving it a quarter of the size it was 50 years ago. General Sir Nicholas Carter, head of the British army, oversees the biggest budget cuts the army has faced in decades. He must make difficult decisions about how best to spend the army's reduced resources and be creative about how it protects Britain from its enemies.