Tank biathlon explained

The tank biathlon is a mechanized military sport event held by the Russian military as a part of the annual International Army Games. Inspired by the winter sport of biathlon, the sport emphasizes the complex training of tank crews including their rough terrain passing skills combined with the ability to provide accurate and rapid fire while performing maneuvers.[1]

Description

Participating tanks drive a three-lap route of 6km–10kmkm (04miles–10mileskm). During the first lap, crews fire at tank-size targets positioned at distances of 1600m (5,200feet), 1700m (5,600feet), and 1800m (5,900feet) (crews aim by optics, without any modern fire-control system). In the second lap, different targets imitating an anti-tank mortar (RPG) squad and an infantry unit are fired upon. These targets are at a distance of 600m–700mm (2,000feet–2,300feetm), and must be engaged with a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun. In the third lap, the tank crews fire at targets shaped like an anti-tank gun and ATGM unit using the turret-mounted heavy machine gun at a distance of 1200m (3,900feet). One or more misses leads to an extra penalty lap 500m (1,600feet) long. On the final lap, tanks have to go through various terrain obstacles; an obstacle missed or improperly traversed adds 10 seconds to the crew's final timing.

Events

The United States received an official invitation in 2013 and an unofficial invitation in 2017.[2] In 2014, 41 countries received the invitation.[3]

International competition, 2013

The first international tank biathlon competition was held at the Alabino proving ground in the Moscow Oblast on 12–17 August 2013. Four teams took part in the competition: Russia, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

ColourPlaceTeamRange 1Range 2Range 3Total time
Red 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 23:44
Blue 2 0 1 1 0 1 2 24:36
Yellow 3 0 0 1 0 2 1 25:25
Green 4 0 1 1 0 1 2 29:48

1st Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2014

The took place at the Alabino proving ground on 4–16 August 2014. Out of 41 nations that received invitation to the tournament, 12 sent their representatives. Every competitor (except Teams China and Russia) received a T-72B tank in the biathlon color scheme. Team Russia piloted the newest modification, T-72B3, and Team China brought their own Type 96A.

Russian preliminaries for the event ran in several of military districts of Russia. Each district sent its top crews to compete for the Cup of Russia, and 3 finalists from that event formed the national Team Russia for the World Championship. Participating nations also held preliminaries on their own, sending 3 top crews and a reserve crew accompanied by maintenance and repair personnel to Russia.

Random selection placed teams under following colors:

ColorNo.Team
Red 1
Red 2
Red 3
Blue 4
Blue 5
Blue 6
Green 7
Green 8
Green 9
Yellow 10
Yellow 11
Yellow 12

First legs of the tournament consisted of:

Final

The final competition was a relay race, the top 4 teams fielded all their crews taking turns.

Total timeTeam
75:14
80:03
90:56
94:11

2nd Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2015

The second event of the series took part on 1–15 August 2015 at the same venue in Alabino. This year the Tank Biathlon was held as a headliner of the that included similar competitions for all things military, from artillery (Masters of Fire) and air force (Aviadarts) to field kitchens. The athletic stage for the crews was removed from the schedule.

Veteran of both previous events, Team Belarus decided to participate in the Army Games "only in the disciplines where we are absolutely ready" and thus did not enter the Tank Biathlon (after finishing only 5th last year). Consequently, Belarus won 3 gold, 50 silver and 249 bronze awards and finished 3rd in the total medal score of the Army Games, being surpassed only by Russia and China. The Nicaragua and Tajikistan national teams joined the event for the first time.

All teams were piloting upgraded T-72B3 tanks, excluding Team China which continued to field its own Type 96A.

List of participants with color scheme:

ColorNo.Team
Red 1
Red 2
Red 3
Red 4
Blue 5
Blue 6
Blue 7
Green 8
Green 9
Green 10
Yellow 11
Yellow 12
Yellow 13

Semifinal

Total timeTeam
73:30
77:32
78:18
83:23
94:12
97:06
120:04
DSQ

Final

Total timeTeam
72:09
79:21
84:56
86:16

3rd Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2016

The third Tank Biathlon took place in Alabino as part of the from 30 July to 13 August.[4]

ColourPlaceTeam
Red 1
Blue 2
Green 3
Blue 4
Blue 5
Yellow 6
Green 7
Green 8
Red 9
Red 10
Yellow 11
Yellow 12

4th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2017

The fourth Tank Biathlon also took place in Alabino. The countries used the same type of tanks as in previous years (T-72B3 and Type-96B), with the exception of India fielding T-90 Bhishma. New Delhi Television reported that the Indian Army felt disadvantaged using T-72B3 tanks provided by Russia in 2016 and was keen to field its best tanks and best crews in 2017. However, as a result of both T-90 Bhishma tanks (the main one and the reserve one) malfunctioning, the Indian squad was unable to complete the race and were disqualified before the semifinal.[5] [6]

After seven days of contests, Team Russia won 11 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze awards and finished 1st in the overall ratings, and Team China achieved second place with 7 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze.

PlaceTeam
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

6th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2019

The competition had a slight change of rules, with two divisions (Division 1 and Division 2). Division 1 consisted of the 12 strongest participants in the 2018 edition, while Division 2 consists of all other participants. After two weeks of contests, Russia once again become the World Champion with the result of 1:33:20. In Division 2, Uzbekistan won the finals, and as they participate in the 2020 edition, they are promoted to Division 1.

Division 1 standings

PlaceTeamFinal round
1 Champions
2 Final
3 Final
4 Final
5 Semi-final
6 Semi-final
7 Semi-final
8 Semi-final
9 Eliminated in individual race
10 Eliminated in individual race
11 Eliminated in individual race
12 Eliminated in individual race

Division 2 standings

PlaceTeamFinal round
1 Champions
2 Final
3 Final
4 Final
5 Semi-final
6 Semi-final
7 Semi-final
8 Semi-final
9 Eliminated in individual race
10 Eliminated in individual race
11

7th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2020

Division 1 standings

PlaceTeamFinal round
1 Champions
2 Final
3 Final
4 Final
5 Semi-final
6 Semi-final
7 Semi-final
8 Semi-final

Division 2 standings

PlaceTeamFinal round
1 Champions
2 Final
3 Final
4 Final
5 Semi-final
6
7
8

8th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2021

The 8th Tank Biathlon took place between 22 August and 4 September 2021 at the Alabino proving grounds.

Russia once again become the World Champion, followed by China, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

9th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2022

The 2022 Tank Biathlon took place between 13 and 27 August 2022.

The biathlon was not held in 2023 and 2024 as the International Army Games were paused due to shortages stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] [8]

Medalist table

1st Division
2014
2015
2016
2017[9]
2018[10]
2019
2020
2021
2022
2nd Division
2019
2020
2021
2022

Rating

The table shows the teams' places in each of the world championships. For 2nd division teams, the first number is the place within the division, and the second number is the absolute place. The teams are ranked according to their average (absolute) place.

TeamAvg20132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
1.001111111111
2.78322326223
3.502443243535
3.56354432362
5.007554446
7.00835611878
7.00656126
9.25428910101110 20
7.63910887577
9.44761011121081 129
10.801279124 14
10.001011159871010
11.25139112 12
7.001 13654
13.0071413147 193 112 133 13
13.671291315156 18
14.6711121114199 21
15.003 15
15.00131616
11.40172 141 998
14.00165 174 123 141 11
16.1717188 202 105 166 16
19.0019224 16
19.2017182011 238 18
21.0021
20.5010 229 19
17.008 167 18
13.005 13
16.006 146 177 17
15.007 154 155 15
20.008 1911 21

Legend:

Video game

On 23 August 2020, tank biathlon was added as a time-limited event in the War Thunder military simulation game that coincided with the real-world competition.[11]

See also

External links

See main article: world championships.

Notes and References

  1. News: http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=1116256. ru:Сергей Шойгу сделает танковый биатлон новым видом спорта. Vesti.Ru. August 10, 2013. August 12, 2017. ru. 13 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170813014013/http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=1116256. live.
  2. News: Rogoway. Tyler. Russia Challenges U.S. Tankers To Compete In Its Annual 'Tank Biathlon'. TheDrive.com. June 7, 2017. August 12, 2017. 14 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170814104343/http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/11253/russia-challenges-u-s-tankers-to-compete-in-its-annual-tank-biathlon. live.
  3. News: Kramnik. Ilya. https://defence.ru/article/10689/. ru:Гонка танковых чемпионатов. Defence.Ru. May 19, 2016. August 12, 2017. ru. 13 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170813010649/https://defence.ru/article/10689/. dead.
  4. News: Ptichkin. Sergey. https://rg.ru/2016/08/13/mezhdunarodnye-armejskie-igry-zavershilis-pobedoj-rossii.html. ru:Международные армейские игры завершились победой России. Rossiyskaya Gazeta. August 13, 2016. August 12, 2017. ru. 7 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170807191955/https://rg.ru/2016/08/13/mezhdunarodnye-armejskie-igry-zavershilis-pobedoj-rossii.html. live.
  5. Web site: After Both Tanks Break Down, India Knocked Out Of International Drill . NDTV . 14 August 2017 . 9 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180109000530/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/after-both-tanks-break-down-india-knocked-out-of-international-drill-1736699 . live .
  6. Web site: India knocked out of tank contest in Russia after T-90s develop snags . 13 August 2017 . Hindustan Times . 14 August 2017 . 22 November 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171122030737/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-knocked-out-of-tank-contest-in-russia-after-t-90s-develop-snags/story-TQRNInKysug3ATwr7PK1MM.html . live .
  7. News: van Brugen. Isabel. Russia Cancels Symbolic 'War Olympics' Over Tank Shortage: U.K.. Newsweek. April 28, 2023. May 29, 2024.
  8. News: British intelligence cited possible reasons for Russia's cancellation of the military games. The Odessa Journal. May 29, 2024. May 29, 2024.
  9. Web site: Result of contests 2017 . International Army Games . PDF . 14 August 2017 . 18 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220118154845/https://armygames2017.mil.ru/results_of_contests_en/ . dead .
  10. Web site: Russian team wins final Tank Biathlon race . TASS . 12 August 2018 . 20 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220820183309/https://tass.com/defense/1016919 . live .
  11. Web site: Video game mirrors war games: Russia rolls out cyber tank biathlon tournament. 2020-08-23. TASS. 21 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200821031639/https://tass.com/defense/1191587. live.