All language subtitles for T.G.I.T.R.S02E01.WEB-T4

This programme contains
strong language.

This is the first time going
anywhere like the Black Sea.

We know 100% there's going to be

Russian surface-to-air missile
systems that will be looking at us,

Russian fighter jets.

We don't know what's
going to happen.

That is a Russian fighter jet,
a very capable aircraft.

And I can do absolutely nothing
about this

if he decides to pull the trigger.

This could be game over for us.

The RAF is on high alert.

We know something is going to happen
in the next 24 hours.

Buzzard tower, Typhoon radio check.

There's a potential ISIS
safe house.

Everything that's happening
with Russia and Ukraine,

it's like a tinder box.

You're doing an important role
protecting from Vladi the Baddie.

Here we go.

Whoa. Holy shit.

With conflict in Europe
and the Middle East...

..British war planes are poised
to face any threat.

You don't want to fire on it
and end up starting WWIII.

Have a good day, thank you.

Ascot 9959,
flight cleared for take-off.

Surface wind 2409 knots over on
cable up.

Over 2,000 miles from the UK in
the Eastern Mediterranean,

Akrotiri is the RAF's busiest
front line operational airbase.

Tower, Ascot 995A,
ready for departure.

For the next four months,

it's home to nearly 150 members
of RAF Coningsby's 11 Squadron.

It's not the best place I've stayed,
not the worst by far.

It's a very boring three Weetabix at
the minute,

but there's possibly
a bacon sandwich when I get to work,

so hopefully that'll make
up for it.

I am Josh, I'm a Flight Lieutenant
in the Air Force.

I'm a Typhoon pilot.

It's always been a fighter pilot
thing to have a moustache,

even the Second World War.

My wife said she liked it as well.
I think she said it tickles.

HE CHUCKLES

Josh is
11 Squadron's youngest pilot.

He only qualified to fly Typhoon
a few months ago

and has just arrived in Akrotiri.

So, what we're
going to do is make sure

the helmet sits on your head

at the correct distance in terms
of your pupils to

the top of the helmet.
Are you right eye dominant?

Right eye dominant, yeah.

Just literally look straight ahead,

pick a point and don't move from it.

This is the first time
I've actually come away

to go on combat operations.

It is nerve-racking,
but it also it's very exciting.

Just proving that I am someone
that is competent enough

to actually go and send to war.

I think we need to move your oxygen
mask cables up.

RAF Akrotiri, in Cyprus, is a
really great strategic location.

To the north we've got Black
Sea, Ukraine, Crimea and Russia.

All places that have been plenty in
the news recently enough.

The month I started flying
the Typhoon was

the same month that Russia
invaded Ukraine,

so for the last few years
I've been watching

the war unfold on TV

and now suddenly I'm being thrown
into the middle of it.

It is quite daunting.

Since the war started in 2022,

the RAF has been gathering
intelligence on Putin's forces

from the world's most advanced
spy plane, called Rivet Joint.

Welcome, mate.

Just thought it would be worth
working through the plan,

now it's been approved.

So, the Rivet Joint will be taking
off from RAF Waddington,

back home in Lincolnshire.

Our job's to meet up
with it over the Black Sea

and keep it safe from
Russian intercepts.

Josh, and lead pilot, Joe,

have been ordered to
fly north to Romania,

and then escort
the Rivet Joint through

the Black Sea towards
the Crimean Peninsula.

Potentially what we might see is

QRA reactions from Crimea
or in mainland Russia.

The risk taken by
the RJ is really up to them,

so if they need to turn around

because they're feeling threatened,

then we will just effectively be
keeping those guys safe.

The Rivet Joint's got sensors

and people down
the back that are trying

to hoover up all
the good signals and things,

comms from the battlefield.

Some of it is secret
and some of it goes up

to God knows what levels
of secrecy that I'm not privy to.

All I know is it's got
a lot of capability,

a lot that I can't talk about,

a lot that I don't know about.

But it's an invaluable asset for us.

This is one of the most dangerous
missions flown by the RAF,

and junior pilot Josh's,
most challenging to date.

NEWS REPORT:
In the last few minutes,

the Defence Secretary's
been speaking in the Commons

about an incident involving an RAF
aircraft and Russian fighter jets.

The Russians regularly
try to prevent

the Rivet Joint from gathering

intelligence and have
even fired at it.

An unarmed RAF Rivet Joint on
routine patrol over

the Black Sea was interacted

with by two Russian armed
SU27 fighter aircraft.

One of the SU27 aircraft
released a missile

in the vicinity of
the RAF Rivet Joint.

Out briefing Havoc, please.
I have you as Havoc pair,

9950, voyager as Kayak.
Air threat remains moderate.

Likely Russian intent for shooting
you guys down. Any questions?

No. Good.

This is the first time certainly
going anywhere like the Black Sea.

We don't know what's
going to happen.

We are there for one thing.
We are to keep them safe.

We know 100% there's going to be

Russian surface-to-air missile
systems that will be looking at us,

Russian fighter jets in
combat air patrol,

potentially launching to come
and intercept us.

The first part of the mission is
to join up with the spy plane.

We need to set our speed
to just under 500mph.

It's important we sync up our
arrival times precisely

so that we can meet up with
the Rivet Joint over Romania.

For me, I mean, it's a culmination
of effectively my life's dream.

When I was younger,
I wanted to be a train driver

and then when I learned about
aeroplanes that swiftly changed.

That and going to Farnborough
Airshow every year with my dad.

To actually finally be getting to do
the job that I joined up to do

is a good feeling.

High over the Romanian coast,

Josh has just rendezvoused with
the Rivet Joint spy plane.

Flying in formation,
the Rivet Joint

and the Typhoons begin their
Black Sea mission

to secure vital military
intelligence on Russian forces.

On these sorts of missions,

especially when you see the Rivet
Joint flying in front of you,

you feel a bit of responsibility
for protecting

the life of the people on board.

You have that responsibility
that you are representing,

not just the UK and the RAF,

but all of NATO
and Western Europe as well.

The Rivet Joint is effectively
an electronics hoover,

sucking up any signals or
intelligence.

Full of about 30 RAF personnel.

The Russians are transmitting
a message to all three RAF planes.

I hear a message like that,
a threat,

it's a strange feeling
because they are a hostile nation.

It could just escalate

beyond the point that's worth
even thinking about.

Good morning, cleared for take-off,
surface wind speed 170 11.

Morning, thank you.

You're going away for the summer,
aren't you?

Is it Costa Rica or something?

I wish. No? Who's off to Costa Rica
in the summer?

I thought you said you were?

I'm off to the Lakes.

THEY CHUCKLE

Surface wind 260 19.

This is RAF Coningsby.

One of the primary main operating
bases for the Royal Air Force.

Home to around 3,000 people,

RAF Coningsby is the busiest
front line airbase in England.

Typhoon 308 ready for departure.

Cleared take-off, Typhoon 308.

The whole of the Typhoon fleet is
nearly 140 aircraft.

And, at any one time,

there's probably 60 or 70

of those will be here at Coningsby.

I'm Billy Cooper, and I'm the
Commander Air Wing, Typhoon.

As we know, the world is in
an increasingly unstable place,

the big challenges are making
sure that we are ready

to face whatever is
demanded of us next.

Billy is the head of
the RAF's Typhoon force,

in charge of every pilot
and every mission they fly.

I've always been concerned about
security of the nation.

But in more recent years,
particularly in all of

the Russian aggression that
we're seeing in Eastern Europe...

..it's very clear to me that
the Royal Air Force has

an incredibly important role
to play in that.

Please have a seat.

We absolutely have
to be better than the enemy.

Good morning everybody,
it's a very busy time.

After things becoming even more
agitated around the Black Sea,

our upcoming deployment is
even more crucial at the moment.

Some sorties we've been flying
from Akrotiri over

the last year or
so have been very successful,

but it's going to be even more key
basing aircraft out of Romania.

In just a few days' time,
Billy's sending six jets

and 200 RAF personnel on
Operation Biloxi,

a mission to counter Russian
aggression in the Black Sea.

It won't be lost on any of you
the importance of the deployment.

It's a very strong and robust
deterrence posture towards Russia,

because we are literally
deploying to

the closest NATO base to what
is the front line of

the war in Ukraine at the moment.

I worry increasingly about how
dangerous the world is

and what difficult decisions
I'm going to have

to make as a commander as we get
closer to a far more broken world.

Just make sure that your people
are in the right frame of mind

for what could be some very
testing times ahead.

You can imagine Russia shooting
down NATO jets,

there's probably no coming back
from that.

In spite of the Russian
radio message,

new Typhoon pilot Josh,
and lead pilot Joe,

must continue their mission...

..escorting the world's most
advanced spy plane, Rivet Joint,

as it gathers Russian
military intelligence.

A jet has been spotted coming
out of Crimea.

Josh is sent ahead
to find out what it is.

We're now just hawking all
of our sensors, our radar,

anything over the radio
listening out.

It's a Russian fighter jet,

the same type which opened fire
at the Rivet Joint in 2022.

The Rivet Joint's got 20 or 30
people on it who have all got
families.

They don't have parachutes.
They haven't got an ejection seat.

If something goes wrong

with that jet or God forbid if it
gets hit, then they're going down.

Josh and lead pilot Joe
decide to fly in between

the Russian and the Rivet Joint
to shield it from being attacked.

Having a Russian fight jet
fully armed is probably about

the most vulnerable I have ever
been in the aircraft.

You don't want to do anything that
could trigger a reaction.

Whether that be turning
a little bit towards them to try

and get them on the radar scope.

That could be seen as a hostile act.

The risk of any
miscalculation could be massive.

The Russian jet is closing in on
Josh's tail.

I'm sat there, when I have a bit of
a moment of realisation, I'm like,

"That is a Russian fighter jet."

A very capable aircraft

probably with his radar locked on
me, if not something else.

You don't want to be
the person that misconstrues what

a Russian jet's done,

you don't want to be the wingman
that is the cause of all doom.

The RAF has reached their
target location,

off the coast of Crimea,

and the Rivet Joint has completed
its mission.

Just got to hold our nerve now,

hoping that that Russian
jet doesn't follow us.

The Russian fighter is
heading back to base.

Heading further west, we're now
heading back away from Crimea.

Effectively,
we're getting out of range

of anything that they would
care about.

They know that we're not
a threat any more,

so we've left their sphere
of interest.

So once the tactical portion of
the mission was over,

the Rivet Joint peeled off
to head back home to Waddington.

It sounded like they managed to get
all of their mission sets done,

whatever those were.

So, they left happy,
which was great.

The Rivet Joint will analyse

the intelligence it collected
when back in the UK,

before being shared
with Britain's allies.

That felt super rewarding

for me in that I'd gone from two
days ago not having

a clue about that mission,

to getting it done right first time,
on time.

Being intercepted by a Russian jet
and keeping

the Rivet Joint safe, which is what
we are there for, right?

We scared them off and kept them at
arm's length, which was great.

Good on you, buddy. Sick.
Well done.

Yeah, yeah. ... ran on rails,
didn't it, time wise?

Smiles on faces
says it was worthwhile.

Yeah, excellent.
Really, really good.

So, have you seen if you go up round
here that it's the French compound?

And then obviously you've got
the Americans over here.

Yes, In their tents?
It'll be a long nine months there.

Yeah.

80 miles from the Ukrainian border,

MK Airbase will soon be Nato's
biggest European military camp.

With the invasion of Ukraine,

there's a lot of tension around
this part of the world.

I am Jenni, I'm a Squadron Leader,

and my post out here is
Chief of Staff.

It's probably one of
the busiest roles,

and it's also one of
the most unpredictable.

200 RAF personnel have just arrived
on Operation Biloxi,

Nato's mission to protect Eastern
Europe from Russian aggression.

Yeah, I think that'd be good,

like, this is like a massive space
that we're not really using.

Jenni's first job is to check

the new British accommodation is
fit for purpose.

Is the welfare suite up
and running now, completely?

It is. OK, brilliant.

As chief of staff,
it's important that you have

a sense of what's going on around
the camp cos this is people living

and working, all in a very small
area.

These are all male blocks now, yes?

Yeah. OK.

This is a very young detachment.

There's a lot of people that have
never deployed before,

and they're still quite junior in
their careers.

So, I refer to myself as
Mum out here in Romania.

So, we have had a few leaks here,

and I don't think it's draining
quick enough from the showers.

Right, OK.

But also shower curtain inside?

Honestly, as if you think you have
to teach people how to take a
shower.

Anyway.

We'll have to keep an eye on it.

Sometimes it's easy to forget,

when there are
a lot of distractions on camp,

of how close we are to Ukraine.

But you only have to watch the news
to understand there's some pretty

horrific things happening not that
far away from where we are.

As the team in Romania focus
on Ukraine,

events unfolding elsewhere could
drag them into a new war.

Iranian State Media says a suspected
Israeli strike has destroyed

an Iranian embassy building in
the Syrian capital, Damascus.

NEWS REPORT: Its Supreme Leader,
Ayatollah Khomeini,

says Israel must be punished but
how will it do so,

and can it avoid plunging
the Middle East into all-out war.

With Israel under threat,

RAF Typhoons in Romania could be
ordered to step in and defend.

Good morning. I mean, we know why
we've got to chat.

There's an awful lot going on in
the Middle East at

the moment, huge instability.

I think the rhetoric from
Iran is very clear

and we know something is
almost certainly

going to happen,
probably in the next 24 hours.

NEWS REPORTER: Good
morning, tension is rising across

the Middle East as Israel braces
for an attack from Iran.

RAF personnel in Romania have
been called into

an urgent meeting over escalations
in the Middle East.

There's a risk that we're inevitably
drawn into something much bigger

than it is now.

How ready are you to move
people and jets?

Yeah, we're ready
to go if we need to.

We've got four jets,
we don't need a tanker.

We can just get airborne

and then pretty much direct
transit into Cyprus.

To defend Israel from
the threat of an Iranian attack,

the RAF is moving jets from
Romania to Akrotiri,

its nearest airbase to
the Middle East.

Brilliant, thanks,
Leasky, good luck.

Brilliant. Thanks very much.

Thank you.

So, I mean, we really are on hour
by hour,

just waiting to see what world
events unfold.

This could be something that changes

the course of history for
the next 50 years.

Thanks, buddy. Cheers.

And let's not beat about the bush,

we also know that there are actors
involved in this crisis at

the moment that have
nuclear weapons.

Scramble.

HOOTER BLOWS

The jets will arrive in
Cyprus in less than two hours...

You have clearance for
a 3:06 departure, runway three.

..with those left behind in Romania,
waiting for Iran to make its move.

NEWS REPORT: The situation in Israel
remains very, very tense.

We expect that retaliation from
Iran to happen in

the next 24 to 48 hours.

NEWS REPORT: It could involve more
than 100 drones

as well as dozens of cruise missiles
and potentially ballistic missiles.

Whenever there's something that
happens on the news,

when you're away,
I think your family are always

going to immediately worry.

But you don't know what's
going to happen yet.

CHILD SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY OVER PHONE

Uh! Did you get star of the week?

This is the first time I've deployed
since I've had Olivia,

and it does feel different.

It really does.

What does that say?

"For being a super class role
model."

She got star of
the week at school this week,

which you know,
in the grand scheme of things,

with everything going on out here,
is it a big deal?

No. But to her, in her little
five-year-old world right now,

that's massive. And I wasn't there.

Oh, sweetheart, that is incredible.
Super proud of you.

You kind of put it
to one side during the day.

You've sort of got your game face on
a little bit,

and you're just busy,
and there's a lot going on.

But, yeah, I don't mind admitting,

sit and get a little bit
emotional afterwards.

Right, you have a brilliant day,
darling.

I'll speak to you soon, OK?

It is a sacrifice that you have
to make.

But then when you come away,

and indirectly you are having
a positive impact.

All right, baby, I love you.

It kind of validates it
a little bit,

you're like, "Well, we are doing
this for a reason."

Aw, babe, love you.

Aw...

Ascot 996 roger,

continuing Akrotiri Tower 130.075.

Clear with Akrotiri Tower, Ascot
996.

The jets from Romania have just
arrived at RAF Akrotiri.

Bring it a bit towards me a little,
just a tiny bit, Biff.

The jets are so noisy,

and my coveralls just constantly
smell of it.

It's like, you know, Eau de Fuel,
eau de toilette same thing.

But literally with our own
aftershave

which is just a fuel smell.

I'm an AS1 technician in
the Air Force.

Anything you'd think that goes bang
on the aircraft,

so explosiveness,
is what we would touch.

23-year-old weapons engineer
Rhyun

is halfway through
a four-month deployment to Cyprus.

Keep coming, Biff.

Yeah, that's it, cool for that.

In readiness for any Iranian attack,

his job is to arm the fleet of
£80 million Typhoons,

with state-of-the-art bombs
and missiles.

So, starting from the tips,

we have the ASRAM air-to-air
short range missile.

And then moving in, you've got
the Brimstone launcher.

There's your air-to-ground bombs.

You see it on the news all
the time with

the bombs that are hitting
the ground,

these are the ones that are
going off.

It's a very, very scary time
at the moment.

You've got countries kicking off
with other countries.

God knows what could happen.

SIREN SOUNDS

BEN BROWN: Breaking news,

in a major escalation of
the crisis in the Middle East,

Iran has started a direct attack
on Israel

by launching dozens of drones
to attack targets there.

They're expected to reach Israel
in the next couple of hours.

In response to Iran's attack,

two RAF jets at Akrotiri
are immediately launching.

The mission - to join US forces
and destroy Iranian missiles

and drones before they hit Israel.

Ahead of take-off,

Rhyun and the team must activate
the jet's weapons.

So, he's got the wands and he'll
mark the jet onto the spot,

and I'll walk into there,
and I'll take the pins out.

Show the pilots, you've got two
pins, and that's us good.

Pulling out them pins is
the final step.

The engine's running.

The pilot will put his hands up in
the cockpit,

and that's basically showing that
he can't touch anything,

because literally the one smallest
flick of that switch,

it's game over.

You're then going underneath
that aircraft.

Your head is literally right
next to the missiles.

You then walk out the jet,
show him the two pins,

and then he can just carry on
what he does.

You know that you are working
with something pretty cool.

So, you get to give the story

to my mates back home when
I go back. It's decent.

We're not entirely sure
where they actually go

cos obviously it's secret,
but you know when it goes like that,

it's all good, you can't go wrong.
Can't go wrong.

Israel is under attack,

Iran launching hundreds of missiles
and drones at the country,

streaking westwards across
the region.

REPORTER: Tonight, wide scale attack
by Iran is a major escalation.

TRANSLATION:

REPORTER: The entire Middle East now
is on high alert.

Over 60 American jets have assembled
above Jordan

and Western Iraq.

Joining them to intercept

the Iranian missiles
are the RAF Typhoons.

For reasons of national security,

the identity of the pilots
has been protected.

I've never done anything like
this before.

Anything could happen in
the next two minutes.

The scale of the Iranian attack
is becoming clear.

On arriving into the area,

the first thing I can see is
tactical ballistic missiles.

One way attack drones,
cruise missiles.

They are bright flashes

and streaks that go high up
into the sky

and they go several hundreds
of thousands of feet.

REPORTER: Iran has started
an airborne attack against Israel,

launching over 200 drones as part

of what it calls
Operation True Promise.

REPORTER: The UK has said that

the British Royal Air Force will
intercept any airborne attacks.

Two RAF pilots,
alongside the US fleet,

are intercepting Iran's massive
drone and missile attack on Israel.

We absolutely have to think through
all the threats,

exactly what we're going to do
to mitigate them.

This is the first time
the RAF has ever been tasked

to intercept an attack like this.

The missiles and drones are
travelling at low altitude

towards their targets,

with the Typhoons flying above,
to prevent an accidental collision.

It's always important
to be on your A-game.

We've got some amazing capabilities,

but things can go against you
quite quickly.

Oh, my God,
there are TBM's everywhere.

We've not seen activity like
this before.

And, actually,
there's a lot at stake.

Over 3,000 miles away,
Typhoon boss Billy Cooper

reviews footage of
the events unfolding.

The video you're seeing on your
screen

is Iranian drones actually
flying over

Iraqi territory,
on their way to Israel.

So, there are American formations
up at the front

closest to Iran.

Our people are just behind them -

and will shoot whatever
the Americans miss.

I cannot overstate how crucial this
is that we get this right.

The RAF pilots over Iraq are
beginning to see a pattern

to the drones and missiles.

I'm using all my sensors
and equipment on board,

trying to figure out
how to intercept these drones

being fired from Iran.

You don't want to be responsible
for allowing something

to get through your area
of responsibility.

Many lives could potentially be
at stake.

I have a duty to try
and protect civilian life.

They're coming through in groups
every 30 seconds.

So, very useful for us
to establish that pattern.

So, the pilots will be able
to position themselves

so they can shoot down
the next wave coming through.

It's really building.

This is definitely the most
challenging moment for them.

There's a lot of aircraft
and drones there.

They absolutely need to make sure
they avoid each other

as they position to take the shots.

It can be a lot of pressure.

Real time decisions
need to be made at cockpit.

We just want to do our best

to prevent anything bad
from happening.

So, they're in the right position.

They should be firing
any minute now.

They only have so many missiles,

so they need to be very careful
about taking the right shot.

Each jet is carrying
state-of-the-art ASRAM

air-to-air missiles to take out
the drones.

They've launched, missiles are in
the air.

Oh, man. That's one down.

After you've actually pulled
that trigger

and you see the target blow up,
that is a relief.

Rather than the missile disappear
off into the night

and you not know where it's gone.

There's two more low drones
coming through.

They're going to have
to work quickly

to get into the right position.

They don't have many missiles left.

They're going to really have
to make these count.

The RAF pilots have just one
missile left.

When you're tasked to conduct
a mission like this,

you're aware that the stakes
are as high as it gets.

So, when you do get the job done,
it's a really great feeling.

What a night.

The world is a safer place
as we go to bed.

The RAF pilots have successfully
shot down three Iranian drones,

and begin heading back to Akrotiri.

It feels quite strange,

it's almost awesome in a way,

but with a hint
of terrifying as well.

What is the follow on,
what's next from this?

Any mitigation to the damage

to Israel or potential loss
of civilian life

means less destabilisation in
the region,

which is ultimately what we are
trying to achieve.

TRANSLATION:

You know the jets come back

and then you see it taxiing in

and it's got nothing on there.

And you think, "Wow, this is
something you've loaded.

"You physically touched it
and it's now not there."

I understand obviously as an
armourer,

we fit things that can hurt people.

At the end of the day,
we're looking after people,

our loved ones back home,
and our family and our friends.

I don't really let it get to me

because you know that it's been
put through so much scrutiny

before it even gets done.

It's not just a rash plan to say,
you know,

"We're going to fire one off."

There's a lot of meaning behind it.

And there's a necessity for it
to have gone off.

It is a rewarding feeling

because you know you've done
your job properly.

The training you've been put through
has been used

to the right, right ways.

And, yeah, you know that it's
the right thing you're doing.

And that's why I joined
the military - to support that.

And I understand other people have
got conflicting feelings,

but we're doing this for
the right reasons.

Iran's first direct attack on
Israel

was full of sound and fury,

bringing the Middle East to
the moment of maximum danger

many predicted.

Back in Romania,

news is breaking about
the attack from Iran

and the RAF's involvement.

NEWS REPORT: The campaign is not
over yet.

We need to remain prepared.

Morning, boss.
Oh, that's very kind.

You seen the news this morning,
then?

Is that why you're in so early?
Yeah, just looking now.

I can confirm that our planes did
shoot down

a number of Iranian attack drones.
Oh, wow!

There was a palpable sense
of tension around the camp

because we knew something
was going on

and nobody knew the detail.

So, it's interesting that they're
talking hundreds of drones.

Limited damage. So, there was...

Yeah. 99% shot down, it doesn't
sound like many have got through.

No. So, it's funny, isn't it?

We just came out here
to do NATO air policing.

And then who'd have thought
this was around the corner?

It's mad, isn't it?

There's always a sense of ambiguity
of what comes next, I think.

So, yeah, there's definitely,

there's definitely a lot of
unknowns at the moment.

I guess it'll be interesting over
the next 24 to 48 hours

to see what happens next.

It's definitely a more tense time.

The world does feel
a little bit edgy,

but I was really bloody proud
of the fact

that we had played a small part
in it.

Genuinely, that is suspicious.

All wearing traditional dress.

A Reaper spy drone flown from

RAF Waddington hunts down
ISIS terrorists in Iraq.

This is a high probability of him
being affiliated to ISIS.

We need to be able to switch from

that intelligence-gathering
mindset into that

"let's put a weapon down"
strike mindset rapidly.

And 11 Squadron are ordered

to destroy Houthi missile sites
in Yemen.

The intelligence analysis has
identified two target locations

for us which are housing
long-range drones.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media