Tank biathlon

Short description: Military sporting event

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

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]

## Contents

* 1 Description
* 2 Events
* 2.1 International competition, 2013
* 2.2 1st Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2014
* 2.2.1 Final
* 2.3 2nd Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2015
* 2.3.1 Semifinal
* 2.3.2 Final
* 2.4 3rd Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2016
* 2.5 4th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2017
* 2.6 6th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2019
* 2.6.1 Division 1 standings
* 2.6.2 Division 2 standings
* 2.7 7th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2020
* 2.7.1 Division 1 standings
* 2.7.2 Division 2 standings
* 2.8 8th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2021
* 2.9 9th Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2022
* 3 Medalist table
* 4 Rating
* 5 Video game
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Description

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.

## 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.

Colour  | Place  | Team  | Range 1  | Range 2  | Range 3  | Total time

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|
|
|
|
|

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

The 2014 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. 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.{{citation needed|date=June 2022} 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:

* Individual race
* Sprint
* Pursuit

#### Final

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

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. The athletic stage for the crews was removed from the schedule.{{citation needed|date=June 2022} 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.{{citation needed|date=June 2022} 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

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

Total time  | Team

|

72:09 |  Russia
79:21 |  China
84:56 |  Serbia
86:16 |  Kazakhstan

### 3rd Tank Biathlon World Championship, 2016

The third Tank Biathlon took place in Alabino as part of the 2016 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

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

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.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}

#### Division 1 standings

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

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

#### Division 1 standings

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

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

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.[8][9]

## Medalist table

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

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 |  |  |
Template:NCA | 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

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

* Canadian Army Trophy
* Strong Europe Tank Challenge

## References

1. ↑ (in ru). August 10, 2013. http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=1116256.
2. ↑ Rogoway, Tyler (June 7, 2017). "Russia Challenges U.S. Tankers To Compete In Its Annual 'Tank Biathlon'". http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/11253/russia-challenges-u-s-tankers-to-compete-in-its-annual-tank-biathlon.
3. ↑ Kramnik, Ilya (May 19, 2016) (in ru). https://defence.ru/article/10689/.
4. ↑ Ptichkin, Sergey (August 13, 2016). (in ru)Rossiyskaya Gazeta. https://rg.ru/2016/08/13/mezhdunarodnye-armejskie-igry-zavershilis-pobedoj-rossii.html.
5. ↑ "After Both Tanks Break Down, India Knocked Out Of International Drill". NDTV. http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/after-both-tanks-break-down-india-knocked-out-of-international-drill-1736699.
6. ↑ "India knocked out of tank contest in Russia after T-90s develop snags". Hindustan Times. 13 August 2017. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-knocked-out-of-tank-contest-in-russia-after-t-90s-develop-snags/story-TQRNInKysug3ATwr7PK1MM.html.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Result of contests 2017" (PDF). http://armygames2017.mil.ru/results_of_contests_en.
8. ↑ van Brugen, Isabel (April 28, 2023). "Russia Cancels Symbolic 'War Olympics' Over Tank Shortage: U.K.". Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/russia-cancels-international-army-games-tank-shortage-uk-1797252.
9. ↑ "British intelligence cited possible reasons for Russia's cancellation of the military games". The Odessa Journal. May 29, 2024. https://odessa-journal.com/public/british-intelligence-cited-possible-reasons-for-russias-cancellation-of-the-military-games.
10. ↑ "Russian team wins final Tank Biathlon race". http://tass.com/defense/1016919.
11. ↑ "Video game mirrors war games: Russia rolls out cyber tank biathlon tournament". https://tass.com/defense/1191587.

## External links

* Script error: The function "in_lang" does not exist. Official site of the project. Official video of the competition. All 5 issues for each year (you need to switch from a button on the site to video hosting (the list 1 ~ 5 will open)).

Template:Main world championships

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