All language subtitles for Lift.the.Ice.S01E03.The.Ice.is.War.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

[wind howling]

[ice cracking]

[ice rumbling]

[atmospheric music]

Here we go. I've
got a big torch here.

Let me just switch this on.

That is a big, big lump of ice.

Has anyone been across here?

[Gio] No, not on the
full other side of this.

And is that because no
one's, in a hundred years,

been dumb enough to try it?

[Gio] [laughs] Possibly.

[Ben] Okay.

[Gio] Let's do this.
[grunts in effort]

So this is rescue
archeology in action.

And we're kind of caught
between the ice here,

which hasn't melted, and
all the stuff above us,

which is melting very rapidly.

I can see why no one's been
back here for a hundred years.

No, no. Check this
out. Check this out.

[Gio] Oh my God.
This is the stuff

that I used to
dream of as a kid.

[Ben] Our ice is a killer,

hostile, not only because of
its fearsome temperatures,

but because wars have raged
across these frozen realms.

Some now forgotten in time,

but the ice never forgets.

Bone fragments everywhere!

As an archeologist
and a former soldier,

I specialize in rescuing
artifacts from the dogs of war.

Look, there's bits of
shrapnel right there.

But now I'm on a
mission to lift the ice

and reveal the secrets
of frozen battlefields.

The preservation is spectacular.

And discover how global
warming is turning up the heat

on a modern day Cold War.

Look at the size of that
thing. It's 10 stories tall.

From World War I
bunkers frozen in time.

It's a treasure
trove down there.

And the hunt for
buried military bases.

That is Delta storm condition.

[Ben] To modern day espionage.

They are definitely
not fishing.

They're doing something else.

[Ben] And the fight for
dominance in the Arctic.

[machine gun fires]

How fast does it tell us
about that missile launch?

But the clock is ticking.

As the ice melts, artifacts
are lost at an alarming rate.

Finding them may be critical

to predicting the future
of frozen warfare.

[soft dramatic music]

I'm in the Italian Alps to
meet two Italian historians

who specialize in World
War I battlefields.

And in 2021 they stumbled

across the perfectly preserved
Austro-Hungarian bunker.

High in the mountains of
Italy's Stelvio National Park,

I'm joining the
team as they embark

on their first archeological
expedition of the season.

So the purpose is to
check the conditions

of the first World War
sites after the winter

and in these very hot months.

And how much have
conditions changed?

I mean, the last few months

have been some of the hottest
on record, haven't they?

Yeah. That's exactly
one of the thing

that we want to check,

both in terms of the artifacts
outside, in the park,

and in terms of
the barrack cave.

But it's kind of, I mean,

it must be a tricky
thing for you guys

because on the one hand, if
there's huge amounts of heat,

then it melts the ice

and reveals more
incredible archeology.

But at the same time,

it might destroy the very things

which we're gonna try and find.

There is a huge
race against time

when you're dealing
with archeology

that is emerging from the ice.

When it starts to melt,

you then only have
a very small window

in which you can
rescue these artifacts

before they're lost forever.

Feels good to be going.

And the scenery around here
is absolutely spectacular.

And the valley that
we're walking up,

we had the Austro-Hungarians
on one side

and then we had the
Italians up on the other.

[mines explode]

This is what you'd see

if you were standing
here a hundred years ago.

A brutal battle between
Italians and Austro-Hungarians.

It's known as the White War.

Over 1 million soldiers
died in this conflict,

but most weren't
killed by their enemy.

Two-thirds of casualties
were caused by the elements.

They battled avalanches

and temperatures as low as
minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit.

They dug bunkers for protection,

which have been locked
in ice until now.

The glacier is melting
at a spectacular rate.

Look at all that
water coming down now.

I mean, it's an incredible,
incredible flow rate.

It's not normally like this,

but because of the
incredibly hot few months,

the water's just coming down
all over the place like crazy.

The recently discovered bunker
is somewhere high above us.

In our way, is one of
Italy's largest glaciers,

the treacherous Forni Glacier.

[Guide] Now we are ascending.

That is the place to
find unexploded bomb.

So not only do we have
to contend with the ice,

but there's also the danger

of unexploded
munitions up there.

[Guide] Yeah, yeah.

Both belligerents would
bomb the summit above barracks

and have these massive
avalanches come down

and like swipe off the face
of the mountain hundreds,

thousands of soldiers at a time.

And I've read somewhere

that it was actually avalanches

and extremes of weather
killed more soldiers

than bombs and bullets.

Oh, absolutely.

When we talk about the
so-called White War front,

it was nature that actually
caused more death than bullets,

grenades, and artillery shells.

Nature also still
feels quite threatening.

- Yes.
- At the moment

I've operated in war
zones like Iraq and Syria.

This isn't the first time
I've scouted for explosives,

but doing it on a glacier
is definitely something new.

There is a massive,
massive collapse

in the glacier right there.

And you can hear
this roar of water

from the underground rivers.

You put a foot wrong in
an environment like this

and you can either
wind up down a crevasse

or you wind up kicking a
shell and kicking the bucket.

And there's, look, there's
bits of shrapnel right there.

That's a massive bit
of an artillery shell.

It's been striated like that
so that when it explodes,

all of these huge
splinters explode

at thousands of
meters per second

and cut through
anything in their path.

[Gio] Bone
fragments everywhere!

All shapes, all sizes!

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Look at this.

It is...

What is it, Ben?

Dude, it is
basically part of a,

like a medium caliber mortar.

You can just see at the
back there the firing pin,

the main body and the fins
have sort of broken off,

but that looks like the
explosive head on a mortar.

Don't get too close.

Can you see that?

What is it?

That's not the glacier
moving that wood around.

Someone's done that
very, very recently.

Stop a second.

That is, that is
an unexploded bomb.

Someone's put that
wood there as a...

You know that thing is...

As a warning, as a marker.

No, that thing is not
natural. Someone's done that.

But it's not one, it's five.

I've never seen anything
like this. Never.

Who would've done that?

I have no idea.

It's just stepping close

to those unexploded
bombs is dangerous.

You have no idea, by touching
a single stone around them,

what you might trigger.

We have to take pictures
and take the GPS position.

[guide speaks Italian]

I guess, often,
archeologists no one interested

in what we do.

[Guide] Oh. We've
done some good today.

But, you could have
saved lives there.

Yeah. Because this is an area

where dozen of mountaineers
climb up the glacier

and if they move close
to the the bombs,

they risk a lot.

Good work guys.

Yeah. Yeah.

Leaving the Forni
Glacier behind,

we follow the Italian military's
old supply route higher

into the mountains,

where the scars of the White
War still mark the landscape.

As we reached the
Italian front line,

the peak they was striving
to conquer looms large

in the distance.

During the first World War,

Mount Scorluzzo was vital

to the control of
the Stelvio pass.

A key passageway between
the treacherous peaks

that bordered Italy
and Austria-Hungary.

Before the White War, the
mountain was Italian territory.

But knowing its
strategic importance,

the Austro-Hungarians
seized the peak.

In an effort to recapture
Mount Scorluzzo,

the Italians
established a frontline

just 500 meters from the summit.

But without the high
ground advantage,

they didn't stand a chance
against the fortified peak

that towered above them.

And the Austro-Hungarians
raining down a fury

of artillery shells
and machine gun fire

from behind a
blanket of bar wire

and bunkers dug deep
into the mountain.

[soft dramatic music]

As we pass into no man's land,

the brutal battles earn
this place an ominous name.

The Mountain of Blood and Iron.

We're just stopping
on the ascent.

And show us what you just found.

Just imagine the
soldiers climbing up here

and having to fire,
and what's this?

There we go. And
this one's spent,

This would've been
fired by a soldier

who was taking part
into a mass assault.

Because if you were here and
you're firing your rifle,

it means that they're
already firing at you.

You would never,

you would never fire upon
enemy positions out there,

exposing your position, if you
weren't already under fire.

[Ben] Have you ever found
one this far? This far forward?

No, actually not.

[Ben] As we make our final
push through no man's land,

it's a sobering
thought that this is

where so many Italian soldiers
died trying to take the peak.

But lying just beyond
it is something

that helped the
Austro-Hungarians keep control

of the mountain.

Thanks to rapidly
thawing permafrost,

a bunker frozen in time
for over a hundred years

has reemerged from the ice.

Okay, so we are just
outside the bunker

and we are just about to go in.

Yes we are. [laughs]

Yeah, but look
at the smile here.

I can see it on your face.

Come on then.

Yes, you lead the way my friend.

[Gio] All right.

Let's do it.

It's too small for
us and the film crew.

So Gio and I will be
the first two people

to inspect the bunker since
its discovery last year.

[Gio] Here we go.

Oh yeah. God.

Oh man. What a squeeze. [laughs]

You have to... Oh.

God. You can smell
it, can't you?

[Gio] Yeah.

Look at this!

Here we are.

The preservation is
spectacular. This is nuts!

This is a hundred years
old. And this is fabric.

Fabric and with this
state of preservation.

This would've been clearly
a sack for carrying supplies.

There's like tin cans all over

'cause clearly this is how
they got most of their...

- [Ben] Rations.
- [Gio] Yeah.

I can't think of anywhere
else from World War I

where you're
actually reaching out

and touching the everyday
objects that these people wore.

This here. That's a
thermal top, isn't it?

[Gio] Yeah.

[Ben] It's just sort of...

I'm not entirely sure,

but this does look
like someone's uniform.

So can we take this down too?

Yes.

And have a closer examination

Yes.

Of this in like, sort
of in in lab conditions.

[Gio] Yes. We can.

[Ben] Without the ice

preserving these
fragile artifacts,

in the damp conditions,

everything is quickly
starting to rot.

So we switched to rescue mode.

[device beeps rapidly]

Oh. Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa.

That's not, it's not a
full clip, but it's a...

[Gio] Yeah, there we go.

That's beautiful. Wow.

I swear this wasn't there
the last time I was here

and it came out And
this is leather now.

[Ben] Yeah.

This is the stuff that I
used to dream of as a kid.

This is a helmet.

Just history emerging
from the ice.

[Ben] And look, there's mold.

[Gio] Oh yeah.

[Ben] Up on these posts.

[Gio] Look at that.

You can poke your
finger through that.

And that's what's supporting
all of this up at the moment.

It's a little scary man.

That is a big, big lump of ice.

Has anyone been across here?

No.

And is that because no
one's, in a hundred years,

been dumb enough to try it?

[Gio laughs]

The heart of the bunker

was just a very sort
of spooky place to be.

The dripping sound of water
felt like a clock ticking

before this thing
collapsed completely.

Hopefully, not with us in it.

[Gio] Let's do this.
[grunts in effort]

So this is rescue
archeology in action.

And above us is this
collapsing structure

and we're kind of caught
between the ice here,

which hasn't melted, and
all of the stuff above us,

which is melting very rapidly.

[Gio] Yeah.

I can see why no one's been
back here for a hundred years.

No, no. Check this
out. Check this out.

There's paper. Paper!

[Gio] There is?

[Ben] Look at that.

- [Gio] Excitement!
- [Ben] Right?

[host and Gio mutter excitedly]

It looks like it's been
nailed to the wall.

I feel bad just touching it

'cause I might just destroy it.

But this is paper, right?

[Gio] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ben] Oh my God. Look
at the script on that.

So we managed to crawl into
the back of this tunnel

that no one has been
into for a hundred years.

And both of us are lying on
this massive lump of ice.

[Gio] And it's warm and comfy.

It does look like,

sort of pinned to the wall
still a hundred years later,

are all of these
military documents here.

And the trouble is
they're too fragile

for us to pick up at the moment.

And look, that's, still got
its label on, hasn't it?

They look like...

Medicine.

[Ben] Medicine bottles
like sort of morphine.

Oh my god God.

[Ben] For pain relief.

Yeah. We won't Drink
from it, will we?

[Ben] It's sort of a
battlefield analgesic.

Okay. Alright.

So I'm gonna shimmy out.
Shimmy out backwards.

Yeah? [laughs]

I'll follow shortly
with our ampule.

[Gio groans in effort]

The bunker is
somewhere sort of between

being a sort of time
capsule and a time bomb.

I mean it's a time
capsule in the sense

that you have all this
incredible archeology which is there.

On the other hand,
it's a time bomb

in the sense that with every day

that we leave these
artifacts in situ,

they're gonna decompose
and lost to us forever.

That was fantastic.
That was just brilliant.

It's a treasure
trove down there.

Actually we found something
that we really wanted

to show you, this from
the back of the barrack.

Does this not look
like a medical bottle?

What would you say?

Having been a sort of
combat medic for a bit,

that to me looks like
a morphine ampule.

And that would kind of
suggest that actually this,

you know, they might
be doing some first aid

in this station away from
the sort of front lines.

And actually that
back wall there,

there was still paper
up on the walls.

Yeah.

[Guide] Amazing.

[Ben] But we also found all
this other really cool stuff.

I think the most
interesting thing

is this piece of clothing.
I find this quite moving.

Just this.

Solitary button there.

Button right there. So
we'll find out what this is.

But the other thing
that it brought to life,

after this record
breaking summer,

and after the last few years
of the permafrost melting,

you don't have that
much time left.

It's going to by destroyed.

Yeah. And the race
is on to to to record

and to preserve that and
to get the artifacts out.

But you know from the records,

there's two or
three more bunkers.

Yeah, we do.

There were at least
two barracked caves

on top of the mountain
and at least two here,

with a third one
under construction.

So there might be two more
somewhere around here.

[Ben] But not for long.

Definitely not for long.

[Ben] We've put the
call out to some experts

who can help us find these
undiscovered bunkers.

[soft dramatic music]

So while we wait
for them to arrive,

we head to a nearby town

to take a closer look
at our artifacts.

Already you can smell or
sort of mildew and rot.

What's this.

[Ben] That's tricky. I
know what you're thinking.

Yeah, I'm thinking blood.

[Ben] The trouble is, is
there blood, you know...

Because this
goes right through.

It could be, but if
those were bullet holes,

wouldn't you also
get blood around?

Now I'm just playing
devil's advocate here

'cause you've got this,
which is either blood or...

Rust.

It's just rust cause there
was a lot of metal in there.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Tin cans and whatnot.

What would be
fascinating to me is

if you would be able to
get some DNA off this.

Yeah.

I mean depending on what hairs

and all that kinda
stuff would work.

Yeah.

On here, dead skin,
anything like that

'cause you could actually trace

this guy's living descendants.

That's a very good point.

There we go. And
this is our mountain.

And so that's
an Italian round.

We found this actually
really quite high up.

Indeed. Yes.

Quite, I mean probably
about 75 meters below.

Yeah.

The Austro-Hungarian
front lines there.

[Gio] Yeah.

- Someone would've crouched.
- Yep.

Loaded the rifle,
aimed, fired.

And as he reloaded...

That would've been
ejected out the side.

So that was definitely
part of an attack

and he was incredibly brave
to manage to get that far.

It gets you thinking though,

what happened to the soldier
Who fired that bullet?

Oh, man. I know, I know.

'Cause that would've
been a blood bath.

The fact that we found
this Italian cartridge

so close to the enemy line

just proves the incredible
determination of these soldiers.

Returning back behind
Austro-Hungarian lines,

my imagination is running
wild for what we might find

if other bunkers are discovered.

My main suspect is right here.

I snuck into that cavity
and I actually found wood.

So we could have a
perfectly intact bunker.

[Gio] Oh yeah.

And maybe even, maybe even
better than the last one?

[Gio] Oh yeah, absolutely.

But that not only about
the place being sealed,

it's the permafrost.

If that has disappeared and
our scientists are telling us

that it is disappearing from
this mountain, you know,

we could be losing
all that's in there.

The alpine permafrost here
is expected to melt even faster

than the arctic permafrost.

So the clock is ticking for
anything that's thawed out.

Luckily, the ground
penetrating radar team

can get straight to work.

Idea is to use these
GPR to understand

if there is some cavities that
could be related to tunnels?

Yep.

[Roberto] Okay. Now we
are collecting the data

and here we can basically
see the response

of the subsurface.

How far down are we
looking at the moment?

Yeah, but it's
about 10 meters.

10 Meters?

Yes. That's huge. Okay.

You can see lot of features,

but still related to the rocks.

And here we go. Here is
a nice reflection here.

You can see we stop it.

Okay. Stop. Stop it. Okay.

And you can see here this
sharp and nice reflection

that could be our target,
what we are looking for.

Gio.

I'm gonna leave you to
explain this to him.

Try and contain your
excitement. All right?

Actually we find a
nice refractor here

and the shape of the refractor
is exactly the same shape

of a cavity.

[Gio] And this is great news.

The size could be one
meter, one meter and a half,

something like that.

It is completely consistent

with the bunker that
we went into already?

Yeah. Oh yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then you know from
your archival researchers

that there's three bunkers?

At least, because the
archival smoking gun

that I found speaks
of three bunkers.

So, probably we
have a network here.

Yeah. Exactly.

A network.

Although hidden deep
in the mountain,

the bunker Gio and
Stefano found in 2021

was already in danger.

For over a hundred years,

the ice had acted
like a vast freezer,

preserving the relics inside.

The rapidly melting ice is all

that's stopping the
structure from collapsing.

And when it's gone, the bunker
will be completely destroyed.

But now the ground
penetrating radar has located

what might be an
entrance tunnel,

running almost 10
feet beneath us.

The hope is that this is
the lost network of bunkers

identified in the archives

and that they can be
found still filled

with solid ice before
it starts melting.

Surely you are
itching to dig down...

Obviously.

Right now and get stuck in.

Now our first priority is
to secure the bunker we have.

That cave needs
urgent attention,

but at the same time,
we're very well aware

of the fact that we
are on a schedule.

We have no idea
whether next summer

is gonna be even
warmer than this one.

And then the treasure trove

that might be lying
just beneath our feet

could be lost forever.

Today the ice is
clearly losing its battle

against climate change.

But for the soldiers,

fighting on Mount Scorluzzo
a hundred years ago,

it was their most
terrifying adversary.

Just 40 years later,

the world's most powerful
army felt sure they

could tame the ice.

This was the height
of the Cold War,

and this time they left
something far more dangerous

than artifacts
entombed in the ice.

[retro dramatic music]

[Narrator] On the
top of the world,

below the surface
of a giant ice cap,

the United States Army

has established an unprecedented
arctic research center.

[Ben] Built on the
Greenland ice sheet in 1959

by the US Army,

Camp Century was hardly
your average research base.

Boring deep trenches
into the ice,

they installed a vast network
of tunnels and buildings

and buried it with snow.

It boasted barracks
for 200 people,

underground garages
for vehicles, and a drilling operation

that recovered the world's
first deep ice core.

But the Army engineers had
underestimated the shifting ice.

Just eight years
after it opened,

the site had to be abandoned.

They assumed snowfall
would bury Camp Century

and that it would
be safely entombed

in the ice sheet
forever. But now,

with climate change affecting
the Arctic environment,

that's no longer a guarantee.

The Camp Century
monitoring program

was brought into
existence mainly

due to concerns by the
government of Greenland.

Like how much debris there
was, how deep it was,

where it was located.

Oh, we're gonna take a
video of this for sure.

[wind whistles]

That is Delta storm condition.

If you go to
Camp Center today,

just setting up a safe and
habitable camp was difficult.

It was a much more intense
expedition than we had planned.

I think we'd been
a little optimistic

when we were
planning the workload

and how bad the
weather might be.

But the ice penetrating
radar worked very well

and it was a lot
busier under our feet.

Normally in the ice sheet,

you just have these
nice horizontal layers,

but at this site you can see

there's all this
chaos in the middle.

And that's the debris field.

Here you can actually
see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

and then over here a 7th.

These are the tunnels
of Camp Century,

currently located at
about 50 meters depth,

which is much deeper
than the eight meters

that they were
installed at in 1959.

So when it was built,

it would've been
about four meters wide

and probably seven meters tall.

Now it's been smushed down,

there's probably no air left in.

It's just been smushed down

into this little
pancake of debris.

Everything that
was in the tunnel,

all the buildings,
all the electrical,

they're all just crushed
down into a debris pancake.

[Ben] But like I said,

Camp Century was no
ordinary research center.

And there's something
else entombed

that worries the scientists.

[soft dramatic music]

It's hard to believe today,

but the army chose to
power this formidable city

under the ice with
an experimental,

portable nuclear reactor.

It powered the base with
just 44 pounds of uranium,

but it also produced
radioactive waste.

A small amount of radioactive
coolant was left at the site

and that sort of provides
an additional impetus

and high profile to the
Camp Century case study.

[ice crackles]

[Ben] Abandoned by the army,

swallowed by the ice,

Camp Century now
rests 50 meters below

the surface of
Greenland's ice sheet.

Thought to be safely entombed

and frozen in time for eternity.

Military scientists
showed little concern

for the radioactive
material they left behind.

But today, as temperatures rise,

there is growing
concern that melt water

running into the ice could
reach the radioactive debris

and release it in Greenland's
fragile environment.

The idea is that if the
debris remains frozen,

it truly is entombed
for eternity.

But once we have meltwater
and things are not frozen,

that assumption
would be overturned.

So that's sort of
the main driver

why we're so focused on modeling

how deep the meltwater may
reach in any given year

over the next century,

and how much mount
water there may be.

The Army's best and
brightest may have failed

to anticipate the
destruction of Camp Century.

But after doing
a bit of digging,

it turns out that there
were far bigger plans

for the Army's prized ice base.

Filed under the code
name Project Ice Worm,

the complex was destined to be
a secret nuclear missile base

located within striking
range of Soviet soil.

Hidden below the ice,

Camp Century's two
miles of tunnels

would've been the beating heart

of a network of
missile sites, equipped

with roughly 600 intercontinental
ballistic missiles.

Luckily for the Russians,

the unpredictable ice
literally buried the project.

But as the ice
continues to melt,

today the fight for dominance

in the Arctic is
really heating up.

To find out what's stoking

this modern day
geopolitical tinderbox,

I'm heading to Helsinki.

In the winter, all of
Finland's ports freeze over

and that's what's made them
sort of world experts in ice

and in ice breaking.

But right now, as the ocean's
warm and the ice retreats,

the Fins are hoping

to exploit their incredible
technical know-how

and to open up seafaring roots

that have been kind of
the dream of mankind

for hundreds and
hundreds of years.

I've come to a world-leading
shipping design

and research company.

The scale models at
the site are no toys.

This multi-million dollar
facility mimics sea ice

and is helping to forge
the next generation

of arctic icebreakers.

So here we have have
a scaled icebreaker.

Now before we start testing it.

The first thing you
notice about this is

that the ship is
the wrong way round.

[guide laughs]

I mean, that's a... [laughs]

It's a pretty huge thing
for an engineering firm.

But could you explain
how suddenly you decided

that actually you were
gonna rip everything up

and do it literally
back to front?

Traditionally, the
ice breakers were built

in a way like normal ships,

when they sail they go forward

and they use their
bow to break the ice.

But the icebreaker
captains observed

that actually when
they are going astern

with the icebreakers...

Yes.

It's an effective way

and they have to use that
operation quite often.

And then later
actually we started

to build these ships on
purpose in such a way

that they kind of
go both directions.

[soft dramatic music]

[Ben] Icebreakers
are the only ships

that can go toe-to-toe with
the arctic ice during winter.

Cargo vessels pay
them to clear routes

to northern ports, offering
lucrative opportunities.

Until now using two
ships as been a costly,

but necessary operation.

However, these guys
might have a solution

[sighs heavily] Much,
much warmer in here.

The crew is ready
for the testing.

Juha is driving
this carriage system

and and she's steering the ship.

Oh, so you are the
captain of this ship?

Exactly.

And you are the captain

of the gondola tracking
the ship right here?

Okay, I've got, I've got it.

It's not as simple as
designing a reversible hull.

It needs a new propeller system
followed by rigorous testing

to ensure it really
is two ships in one.

[Juha speaks Finnish]

The challenges of open
water are very different

to ice locked seas.

For better or worse,
this new design

will give vessels easier
access to the Arctic ocean.

[Juha speaks Finnish]

[machine beeps]

Wow, that's extraordinary.

It's just ripping through that.

As the sea ice melts,

it offers one of the most
important shipping routes,

which could transform
world trade.

Previously you'd have to have
a very powerful icebreaker,

followed by whatever cargo ship

that you were bringing along.

The Akar Arctic solution is
basically they're creating boats

which can be their
own ice breakers

and navigate some
of the most perilous

and inhospitable
seas on this planet.

Stop. Yeah.

If you see the back,

we call this a channel
and this is the condition

where the ship should be able
to follow the icebreaker.

The problem comes if
the cargo ship is wider

than the icebreaker.

With arctic sea ice
measuring three meters thick

during winter, not only
does breaking through it

require reinforced double hulls,

but you also need
powerful thrust

to drive the ship
through the ice.

Oh, you really get a sense
of the propulsion system,

don't you there?

So the propellers on
these ships are more

like the propellers on the plane

where they're pulling
the boat along,

rather than pushing.

That's true. Exactly.

[ship beeps]

There goes the bow.
There it goes through.

Yeah. Love that.

Oh, come on, come
on! How cool is that?

And all of the ice is just
shot out it, on the sides.

It is like watching
an airplane go along.

And here we really
see how the water flows

actually keeps the hull
quite clear of the ice.

[Ben] It's such
a powerful system.

For generations,

ship builders have placed
their propellers at the stern

to push the vessel forward.

But these propellers
can spin 360 degrees,

allowing the ships to travel
in any direction they please,

forward through open water,
or backwards through ice.

How soon do you think it will be

before transpolar journeys
are a feature of our lives?

In the end, in a way, it
all comes also to economics.

We will have some more
activities in the fishing,

in the tourism, or the energy,

which is mainly the
oil and gas and so on.

So it's all quite
international business.

A ship leaving
Europe on its way

to China takes more than a month

following traditional
shipping routes.

But the ice breaking cargo
ships being built today

will be able to navigate
the arctic's thick,

ice-covered waters
in half that time.

This means the
northwest passage,

Russia's northern sea route

and the fabled transpolar route,

directly through the North Pole

will become a year
round reality.

However, access to the Arctic
will also enable large oil,

gas, and mining companies
to venture into that region

to exploit its untapped
natural resources.

Oil and gas reserves alone

are worth an estimated
30 trillion dollars.

No wonder relationships

between neighboring Arctic
countries are being tested.

Think of the Wild
West 150 years ago,

the Arctic is essentially
the wild north

and all of these countries
are racing to exploit it.

And I hope that they do it
in a sort of peaceful manner,

but you... [chuckles]

It's not looking like
it at the moment.

[missiles detonate]

In recent years, Russia
has been far from shy

about letting the world know
about its military might

and economic intentions
in the Arctic,

pulling off stunts
like staking a claim

to the arctic's
natural resources

by brazenly planting a
Russian flag 4,200 meters

below the North Pole.

[dramatic music]

Like something out of
a James Bond movie,

they've also constructed
an Arctic military megabase

on Franz Josef Land.

And then having three
nuclear submarines

burst through the ice near the
North Pole without warning.

With the Russians
making the first move

on one of the biggest
land grabs in history,

geopolitical
tensions are rising.

So I'm headed to the
tip of the spear,

the Norwegian
border with Russia.

I wanna find out how
prepared modern soldiers are

for another White War,

fighting both enemy and
elements once again.

I've arranged to meet with
the Norwegian military

and specifically the GSV,

which is the Garrison
of Soør-Varanger.

And they are basically
the border guards

for this stretch of
border with Russia.

And just over there to the east,

two brigades of Russian troops.

And I'd be fascinated to know

how the Norwegians kind of look
at the odds of those numbers

and what they're doing
to counteract them.

Somewhere, on the other
side of this river,

are up to 10,000
Russian soldiers.

And on this side, a
small but dedicated group

of Norwegian national
service conscripts,

they protect their border
by manning a series

of observation posts that's
stretched to the Barren Sea.

Has a yellow border post and
two Norwegian soldiers here.

Hey, Ben Timberlake.

Frende Mygland?
Good to meet you.

What are you lads up to?

We are out patrolling,

making sure no one is
crossing the borderline.

Talking to civilians,

making sure they are aware
of what rules apply up here,

which is don't cross
the border, obviously.

Yeah.

Don't communicate with the
people on the other side.

Yes.

And then you have, you
can't take your pictures

or videos of military
personnel or buildings.

What about being
with these guys?

What can they show and
what can't they show?

Are we allowed to sort
of point the cameras

in that direction or
what would you...?

Yeah. I would
advise not to because,

especially in this area,

there is some
buildings and personnel

that you can't take pictures of.

Okay. So you've got your,

this yellow marker right
here and just across,

but we're not
allowed to show it,

is the Russian marker there?

Yeah, the green and red one.

Okay, cool.

And then what we're
definitely not gonna show

is that is that Russian
tower over there.

Despite the sensitive situation,

I'm being allowed to join these
specially trained soldiers

on the final segment of
their daily border patrol.

So we're just on a patrol

and we are walking right along
the Norwegian border here.

And then just down here is
this stunning, beautiful river.

And on the other side
of that is Russia.

And as we kind of
approach the coastline,

we're starting to
sort of see all

of these observation
towers on the Russian side.

And because of the sort of
the tension at the moment,

you don't want any sort of,
any gesture on this side

to be misunderstood by
the Russians on that side.

We're in summer kit at the
moment, but winter is coming in.

Are you guys ready for it?

We got here in
January. So what we first

was trained was how to
survive in the winter

and how to avoid
hypothermia, for example.

- And frostbite and all that.
- Yeah.

What other things do you
think is gonna be tough

for surviving for
a winter up here?

Definitely the lack of sun.

It's gonna be dark
for a couple months.

In some ways,
little has changed

in over a hundred years
of winter warfare.

Once the temperatures drop,

these soldiers must be ready
to fight both the enemy

and the extreme cold.

In winter, it
switches to soldiering

in this incredibly
brutal environment,

so perpetual dark,
and snow and ice.

And that's when they
kind of switch on

and have to use much more
sort of specialist skills

than a regular soldier.

And they've gotta be good
trackers to be able to look

for foot marks in the snow.

...Right ahead.

Sorry Rob, what's
going on man, bud?

We've got a
building right ahead.

Oh, okay.

So be careful with the camera.

Yeah. Okay.

We had to stop filming just then

because as we sort
of swung around

at the last bit of headland,

there was a series of
of Russian facilities

on the other side,
which have eyes

and overwatch on this area.

And we'll start filming again
when it's safe to do so.

So come winter, you know,

you are here as soldiers
to scare off the Russians

and you know, you're
fighting guys,

but it seems like a lot
of your job this winter

is gonna be fighting winter.

Yeah. So that's the problem

with being up here is surviving
in these harsh conditions.

And I'm not scared of
it, but on the same time,

you know if you do one little
mistake, you're done for.

How cold does it get here?

You can get up to
35, minus 35 degrees.

And what about the winds?

That does it, that
makes it even harder.

Welcome to outpost 247.

These steps provide
the only access point

to this somewhat
classified building,

perched like a hawk
overlooking the Barren Sea.

It sits 247 meters
above sea level

with a perfect view over
Russia's Kola Peninsula.

[soft dramatic music]

As the Arctic opens up a
new frontier for fishing,

shipping, and natural
resource exploration,

five nations stand
to benefit the most.

Norway, Greenland, Canada,
America, and Russia.

Each nation can do what
they wish 200 nautical miles

from their coast.

But disputes have
arisen in recent years,

with Russia claiming
economic rights

to areas others
think belong to them.

This may explain Russia's
military buildup in the region,

which includes a
swathe of new outposts,

airstrips, and ports along
its vast arctic coastline.

But leaked satellite images

have uncovered far more
alarming facilities being built,

including new complexes
to launch nuclear missiles

and the mobilization
of troops close

to the Norwegian border.

This is the living room.

Home sweet home.
And waffles here.

Kitchen here.

This is where you go to sleep?

Yeah, the bed
here is Mygland's.

Yeah.

And this is where I sleep.

It's a pretty Spartan
setup you have here?

[soldier laughs]

What's the phone for?

The phone is for the
people in the tower

who is on guard to wake us up.

Alexandre and Mygland man
this is a small outpost,

with just two other conscripts.

Ben, good to meet you.

Yeah, nice to meet you.

And between them
they must keep watch

over the Russian
border 24 hours a day.

Yeah, I have to
leave, it's tower duty.

Dude, thank you so
much. I appreciate that.

See you soon.

What happens upstairs?

It's classified.

Alright.

And what do you
feel about the job

that you've been given here?

Because you are right on the
edge of your country of Norway.

Do you feel protective?

Yeah, I do.

And if something happens,
I want to be on that line.

I want to be the one protecting,
not the one protected.

Do you think you've
got the best posting

out of all the or the recruits?

Definitely.

For sure.

- I appreciate it.
- Thank you so much.

[Ben] No matter how
good these guys are,

four conscripts
against the full might

of Russia's Arctic forces
is far from a fair fight.

But these soldiers
do have some backup.

NATO has also been doing
its own muscle flexing

in the region.

Large scale military
exercises like cold response,

involving 30,000 troops
from 27 different countries

coming together to sharpen
their arctic warfare skills

and train with the
latest weapons.

But if you know where to look,

there are signs that the tide

of future arctic warfare
might be changing.

In 2022, there was a
very strange incident

that involved a series
of undersea cables

connecting the
island or Svalbard

with the Norwegian mainland.

In January, that
cable went dead.

Well, and they'd found that
it had been dragged and cut.

And then when they had a
closer look at the log activity

of a series of Russian trawlers,

they found out that
these Russian trawlers

were in exactly that
area at the time

that this cable went dark.

The official explanation,

and the one accepted by
the Norwegian government,

is that the Russian trawlers
cut the cables by accident.

But many fear there
is more to this story

than meets the eye.

I'm coming up to Kirkenes

and just four kilometers
away is the Russian border

and then 200 kilometers
away is Murmansk,

and Murmansk is of vital
importance to the Russians.

It's where they're
northern fleet is,

their nuclear armed submarines,

and some of their
greatest war ships.

So it doesn't feel like
it looking around it,

but we're right on the
front line with Russia.

Due to its location
on the border,

the small fishing
village of Kirkenes

has a reputation
as a den of spies.

So I'm hoping I can find
out what really happened

to the cables and why.

Ola Kaldager, the guy
who I'm about to meet,

is something of a legend

in the Norwegian
intelligence service.

He's spent a lifetime
abroad in the shadows.

So if anyone can tell me
exactly what's going on here,

then he's our guy.

It's a pleasure to meet
you. Ben Timberlake.

Hello.

Thank you for
agreeing to meet.

Kirkenes has got an
incredible reputation

in the world of espionage.

Why is that?

Always been a spy's nest.

We are close to
where the Russian

have their nuclear
submarines and their,

most of their fleet.

[Ben] And that's in Murmansk?

[Ola] Not far from here.

You have Russian ships
docked in a Norwegian harbor.

What are your thoughts
on this incident?

[Ola] With the cables?

[Ben] With the cables?

I think they were
cut by the Russians.

There is no doubt about that.

It's not an accident at all?

You know, it's a war
going on, a war in peace.

Ola is keeping his
sources close to his chest,

but I've managed to gather
a bit of my own intel.

The tracking data from
trawlers originating

from Kirkenes at the time.

It's a map of Svalbard
and the cable's there.

And then these are
the Russian ships.

Here comes the other...

- [Ola] Trawler.
- Trawler here.

I mean that one is
going back and forth,

back and forth directly
over the cable.

Over the cable.

And this was taken on the
day that that cable was cut.

I've never in my life seen
a trawler acting like that.

They are definitely not fishing.

They're doing something else.

I admit that that
looks fairly conclusive.

It is, it is.

There's no doubt. And
the Norwegian government,

of course they knew that,
they knew it very well,

but they don't want to
disturb the relation

between the Russia and Norway.

Yeah. Okay.

If the Russians are up to this,

I'm interested in what
you Norwegians are up to

on the other side?

It seems the evidence points

to the Russians
cutting the cable.

But the big question is why?

The cables are
Svalbard's only data link

to the outside world.

It's essentially
civilian internet traffic

and communications.

Perhaps the Russians believed
something else was being sent.

Do we have to be careful
when we're filming or...?

[Ola] I think so.

We're heading to
the island of Vardo,

situated on the very
northeast tip of Norway.

It directly faces
Russia's Kola Bay,

the home of the northern fleet

and its nuclear
armed submarines.

Oh, that's an
incredible... [chuckles]

That's huge. I had no idea
it was gonna be that big.

It occupies almost
that entire island.

This small town is home to a
US funded radar installation

as part of a wider regional
surveillance network.

Did the Russians cut the cable

because they thought
it was being used

for intelligence purposes?

Where is everyone? This
is very, very quiet.

[Ola] A very sleepy town.

And sort of half
the houses don't look

like they're lived in.

Look at that. Look
at that between the two houses like that.

That's incredible.

The size of that thing.

I mean, it's 10
stories tall, easily.

[Ola] It is.

Why have they built
all of these things

right at the end of the earth?

Very little is known about
this secretive radar station

or the genuine purpose

of the four domes
perched on the cliffs.

So Ola has set up a meeting
with a local journalist

who has spent the last 20
years investigating this space,

what it's actually
doing, and why.

There's lots of these
radar stations there.

What are we looking at?

The main purposes
for these radars are

to keep track and to follow
all the military activity

in Russia because you have the
biggest military installation

on the other side
of the border here.

Which one is the
most sophisticated one?

That huge radar dome there?

No, the most
sophisticated radar

is the one on the
right side here.

This was built the last years

and it is at the cost of
about 1 billion US dollar.

Let's say that there
is a missile launch

coming from Russia.

What does that tell us

and how fast does it tell us
about that missile launch?

In a real situation,
if there's a nuclear war,

there will be fired
about 50 objects in space

that go ballistic
to towards the US.

And only two of them
are real objects

with the nuclear weapons.

Rest of them are decoys
to try to cheat the enemy.

And it's of crucial
importance to know

what is the real
object and what is not.

[Ben] Is this the
future of arctic warfare?

The GLOBUS radar
stations are the US

and NATO's Arctic surveillance
and missile defense systems.

Polar orbiting satellites
capture intelligence

about Russian military activity

and send it back to
these radar stations

as they pass overhead.

If the unthinkable was to happen

and Russia launched
a nuclear warhead

from any one of
its arctic bases,

the West relies on the
GLOBUS ground radar

and orbiting satellites
working in tandem

to identify and
track the missile.

Once a launch is confirmed,

command facilities in Colorado

and Alaska will
signal submarines

stationed throughout the Arctic

to launch interceptive missiles

that will neutralize the threat.

So who has the upper
hand at the moment?

Russia is ahead,
I'm afraid so.

For instance, these
hypertonic missile

that travel at 10 times
the speed of sound.

If the Russians start using
these hypersonic missiles

with nuclear capacity,

no one's missile defenses
are capable to stop it.

[Ben] Looking around this
sleepy fishing village,

you would never
guess it's importance

in defending the West from
Russia's nuclear threat.

And as my journey in the
Arctic comes to an end,

it's clear the melting ice

and scramble to exploit
its natural resources

also comes with growing
military presence

that could lead to
conflict in the region.

And while this environment
remains too brutal

for soldiers fighting
on the ground,

with warfare now controlled
from satellites in polar orbit,

one thing is certain
the Arctic is destined

to play a pivotal
role in our future,

whether in peace or in war.

[soft dramatic music]

[dramatic music]