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]

Four T-72B tanks of the participants, 2013
Russian T-72B, 2013
T-80U tanks waltzing at the show, 2013

Description

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One of the shooting targets used in tank biathlon (dimensions in centimeters)

Participating tanks drive a three-lap route of 6–10 km (3.7–6.2 mi). During the first lap, crews fire at tank-size targets positioned at distances of 1,600 m (5,200 ft), 1,700 m (5,600 ft), and 1,800 m (5,900 ft) (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 600–700 m (2,000–2,300 ft), 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 1,200 m (3,900 ft). One or more misses leads to an extra penalty lap 500 m (1,600 ft) 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.[citation needed]

Events

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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

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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.

Colour Place Team Range 1 Range 2 Range 3 Total time
H P H P H P
Red 1   Russia 1 0 0 0 2 0 23:44
Blue 2   Kazakhstan 0 1 1 0 1 2 24:36
Yellow 3   Belarus 0 0 1 0 2 1 25:25
Green 4   Armenia 0 1 1 0 1 2 29:48

1st Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2014

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The 1st Tank Biathlon World Championship [ru] 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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed] Participating nations also held preliminaries on their own, sending 3 top crews and a reserve crew accompanied by maintenance and repair personnel to Russia.[citation needed]

Random selection placed teams under following colors:

Color No. Team
Red 1   Russia
Red 2   Mongolia
Red 3   Venezuela
Blue 4   Kazakhstan
Blue 5   Belarus
Blue 6   Armenia
Green 7   China
Green 8   Serbia
Green 9   Kyrgyzstan
Yellow 10   India
Yellow 11   Angola
Yellow 12   Kuwait

First legs of the tournament consisted of:

Final

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

Total time Team
75:14   Russia
80:03   Armenia
90:56   China
94:11   Kazakhstan

2nd Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2015

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A Chinese Type 96A at the 2015 tank biathlon

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 2015 International Army Games [ru] that included similar competitions for all things military, from artillery (Masters of Fire) and air force (Aviadarts) to field kitchens.[citation needed] The athletic stage for the crews was removed from the schedule.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed] The Nicaragua and Tajikistan national teams joined the event for the first time.[citation needed]

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:

Color No. Team
Red 1   Russia
Red 2   Venezuela
Red 3   Armenia
Red 4   Kyrgyzstan
Blue 5   Nicaragua
Blue 6   Angola
Blue 7   China
Green 8   Tajikistan
Green 9   Mongolia
Green 10   Kazakhstan
Yellow 11   India
Yellow 12   Serbia
Yellow 13   Kuwait

Semifinal

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Total time Team
73:30   Russia
77:32   China
78:18   Kazakhstan
83:23   Serbia
94:12   India
97:06   Kyrgyzstan
120:04   Tajikistan
DSQ   Armenia

Final

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Total time Team
72:09   Russia
79:21   China
84:56   Serbia
86:16   Kazakhstan

3rd Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2016

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The third Tank Biathlon took place in Alabino as part of the 2nd International Army Games [ru] from 30 July to 13 August.[4]

Colour Place Team
Red 1   Russia
Blue 2   China
Green 3   Kazakhstan
Blue 4   Belarus
Blue 5   Serbia
Yellow 6   India
Green 7   Azerbaijan
Green 8   Mongolia
Red 9   Armenia
Red 10   Kyrgyzstan
Yellow 11   Angola
Yellow 12   Iran

4th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2017

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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.[7]

Place Team
1   Russia
2   China
3   Kazakhstan
4   Belarus
5   Azerbaijan
6   Serbia
7   Iran
8   Mongolia
9   Venezuela
10   Armenia
11   Kyrgyzstan
12   India

6th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2019

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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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

Division 1 standings

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Place Team Final round
1   Russia Champions
2   Belarus Final
3   Kazakhstan Final
4   Azerbaijan Final
5   Mongolia Semi-final
6   China Semi-final
7   Venezuela Semi-final
8   Serbia Semi-final
9   Syria Eliminated in individual race
10   Kyrgyzstan Eliminated in individual race
11   Armenia Eliminated in individual race
12   Iran Eliminated in individual race

Division 2 standings

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Place Team Final round
1   Uzbekistan Champions
2   Vietnam Final
3   Cuba Final
4   Uganda Final
5   Myanmar Semi-final
6   Kuwait Semi-final
7   Tajikistan Semi-final
8   Laos Semi-final
9   Angola Eliminated in individual race
10   Sudan Eliminated in individual race
11   Zimbabwe

7th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2020

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Division 1 standings

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Place Team Final round
1   Russia Champions
2   China Final
3   Belarus Final
4   Azerbaijan Final
5   Kazakhstan Semi-final
6   Uzbekistan Semi-final
7   Serbia Semi-final
8   Kyrgyzstan Semi-final

Division 2 standings

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Place Team Final round
1   Vietnam Champions
2   Laos Final
3   Tajikistan Final
4   Myanmar Final
5   Congo Semi-final
6   Abkhazia
7   South Ossetia
8   Qatar

8th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2021

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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

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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.[8][9]

Medalist table

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Year Gold Silver Bronze
1st Division
2014   Russia   Armenia   China
2015   Russia   China   Serbia
2016   Russia   China   Kazakhstan
2017[7]   Russia   Kazakhstan   China
2018[10]   Russia   China   Belarus
2019   Russia   Belarus   Kazakhstan
2020   Russia   China   Belarus
2021   Russia   China   Kazakhstan
2022   Russia   Belarus   China
Year Gold Silver Bronze
2nd Division
2019   Uzbekistan   Vietnam   Cuba
2020   Vietnam   Laos   Tajikistan
2021   Kyrgyzstan   Tajikistan   Myanmar
2022   Myanmar   Syria   Tajikistan

Rating

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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.

Team Avg 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
  Russia 1.00 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  China 2.78 3 2 2 3 2 6 2 2 3
  Kazakhstan 3.50 2 4 4 3 2 4 3 5 3 5
  Belarus 3.56 3 5 4 4 3 2 3 6 2
  Azerbaijan 5.00 7 5 5 4 4 4 6
  Serbia 7.00 8 3 5 6 11 8 7 8
  India 7.00 6 5 6 12 6
  Armenia 9.25 4 2 8 9 10 10 11 10 20
  Mongolia 7.63 9 10 8 8 7 5 7 7
  Kyrgyzstan 9.44 7 6 10 11 12 10 8 1 12 9
  Iran 10.80 12 7 9 12 4 14
  Venezuela 10.00 10 11 15 9 8 7 10 10
  Syria 11.25 13 9 11 2 12
  Uzbekistan 7.00 1 13 6 5 4
  Tajikistan 13.00 7 14 13 14 7 19 3 11 2 13 3 13
  Kuwait 13.67 12 9 13 15 15 6 18
  Angola 14.67 11 12 11 14 19 9 21
  Cuba 15.00 3 15
  Nicaragua 15.00 13 16 16
  Vietnam 11.40 17 2 14 1 9 9 8
  Myanmar 14.00 16 5 17 4 12 3 14 1 11
  Laos 16.17 17 18 8 20 2 10 5 16 6 16
  Uganda 19.00 19 22 4 16
  Zimbabwe 19.20 17 18 20 11 23 8 18
  South Africa 21.00 21
  Sudan 20.50 10 22 9 19
  Qatar 17.00 8 16 7 18
  Congo 13.00 5 13
  Abkhazia 16.00 6 14 6 17 7 17
  South Ossetia 15.00 7 15 4 15 5 15
  Mali 20.00 8 19 11 21

Legend:

  •   Participant
  •   Relay race
  •   Final relay race
  •   Participant (2nd division)
  •   Relay race (2nd division)
  •   Final relay race (2nd division)

Video game

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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

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References

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  1. ^ Сергей Шойгу сделает танковый биатлон новым видом спорта. Vesti.Ru (in Russian). 10 August 2013. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  2. ^ Rogoway, Tyler (7 June 2017). "Russia Challenges U.S. Tankers To Compete In Its Annual 'Tank Biathlon'". TheDrive.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  3. ^ Kramnik, Ilya (19 May 2016). Гонка танковых чемпионатов. Defence.Ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  4. ^ Ptichkin, Sergey (13 August 2016). Международные армейские игры завершились победой России. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  5. ^ "After Both Tanks Break Down, India Knocked Out Of International Drill". NDTV. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  6. ^ "India knocked out of tank contest in Russia after T-90s develop snags". Hindustan Times. 13 August 2017. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Result of contests 2017". International Army Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  8. ^ van Brugen, Isabel (28 April 2023). "Russia Cancels Symbolic 'War Olympics' Over Tank Shortage: U.K." Newsweek. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  9. ^ "British intelligence cited possible reasons for Russia's cancellation of the military games". The Odessa Journal. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Russian team wins final Tank Biathlon race". TASS. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Video game mirrors war games: Russia rolls out cyber tank biathlon tournament". TASS. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
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