Fighter jets streak over the barren fields of eastern Romania, unleashing precision strikes on targets ahead. Underneath, tanks advance in a tight formation across the frozen soil firing near combat trenches.

It may sound like a war zone – but it is not one, just yet.

Metro travelled to Smârdan, Nato’s Romanian military base, just a handful of miles from the borders of neighbouring Ukraine and Moldova, to witness drills for a possible invasion by Russia.

This is where 10,000 military personnel from nine nations – 2,500 of them British – have been stationed as part of Steadfast Dart, the first large-scale
deployment of Nato’s Allied Reaction Force (ARF), designed to protect the eastern flank.

In the middle of February, soldiers train in the grinding Romanian winter as temperatures hover below zero in the open fields.

As many as 1,500 military vehicles, dozens of aircraft and 17 naval assets have also been positioned here as part of the exercise.

Preparations for a Russian invasion

On a hilltop overlooking the military base, Nato officials line up in anticipation of the drills, which come as close as possible to real-life war conditions.

High above the battlefield, helicopters armed with 57-mm rockets engage enemy targets with a thunderous strike.

Jets whizz above the tent, carving white trails in the sky. The roar of their engines booms, forcing everyone to put plugs in their ears.

Within moments, further positions are struck and plumes of black smoke rise in a ball in the distance.

British Army Jackals, high mobility weapons platform vehicles armed with a grenade machine gun and a heavy machine gun, are deployed forward to investigate the threat.

‘Tat, tat, tat,’ the sound of the machine gun bursts in an unrelating staccato as soldiers on the armoured vehicles strike positions five miles away.

A dozen soldiers jump out of British Army Foxhound vehicles – previously used in Afghanistan – designed to protect against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines.

To the front, the units race towards a row of barbed wire in front of deep trenches.

Round after round of medium-weight 81-mm mortar is unleashed on the neighbouring valley to provide cover for the force.

Pausing and ducking for cover, soldiers disappear in between little patches of dried up grass in the same colour as their uniforms.

It is like a deadly war choreography that has been practiced multiple times over the last few weeks.

Inside the deep trenches, vicious one-to-one combat follows, reminding of the bloodshed that has been witnessed on the frontline of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Tanks are up next. Holding formation, Romanian TR-85 vehicles with four crew members on board speed up past the hill.

One by one, they grind deep into the earth and maneuvre towards the front.

Each fires several deafening shots with 81-mm mortar. Dust particles from the explosions fill the air around them.

The simulation ends with a Scottish piper who emerges victorious from the trenches to signal the finale.

British troops ready for deployment to Ukraine

This is by far, the most intense land, sea and air exercise the alliance has unravelled in 2025 – and within reason.

Nato officials in Smârdan told Metro that the continent is facing the most precarious environment in decades in the face of Russian aggression.

Commander Carl Howard, chief media operations at JFC Naples, stressed how important this exercise of supporting the eastern flank is as Europe moves towards a ‘war mentality’.

Speaking about the preparedness of UK forces, he said: ‘We have managed to get 10,000 troops here, rapidly at the border near Ukraine.

‘British soldiers are very professional. I am at the end of my 36-year career and I am blown away by their professionalism.

‘This is a great showcase of putting Britain on the map front and centre for a very, very important Nato exercise.’

From soldiers with just a couple of years of experience in the British armed forces, to high-ranking UK officials, all agreed that they will do ‘what needs to be done’ if Sir Keir Starmer decides to deploy troops to Ukraine.

Bombardier ‘D’, from the Fire Support Team (FST), showed us equipment used in observational post on the sidelines of the exercise.

‘I am ready to do whatever the British Army requires of me,’ he said calmly about the prospect of being sent as part of a peacekeeping force.

‘As a human being I am concerned about the threat alert, but we receive the required training and I feel confident.’

UK warrant officer (WO) Daniel Smith also assured of British readiness to deploy.

He said: ‘We are held at readiness to deploy anywhere in the world and we are a mission success organisation.

‘Wherever we go, I am 100% convinced that my soldiers and my team will achieve that mission successfully wherever we are sent to.’

US missing from Nato’s largest exercise

Nato’s Allied Reaction Force (ARF) was set up in 2024 to facilitate a rapid response to an attack, with Britain taking a leading role to boost the alliance’s collective defence capabilities.

US admiral Stuart Munsch told a press conference in Smârdan that such a deployment can be organised in a matter of days, while fighter planes can be send within hours.

Regardless of the ‘readiness’ of the force, no one addressed the ‘elephant in the room’ – that Europe is shaking as it grapples with an America under Donald Trump.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has demanded that allies dramatically ramp up military spending and said that the security priorities lie not withNato, casting doubts on the longstanding security guarantees provided to Europe.

Politics seemed off the table at Steadfast Dart, even though it appears as if the future of Europe’s security depends on decisions made by the White House.

It is also unusual that the US – the largest contributor to the defence of Nato – is not taking part in Steadfast Dart, particularly because of its size. 

Its absence from the eastern flank for the exercise could also be seen as a sign that, indeed, Trump may be committed to pulling some US forces out of Romania.

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