The world champion Russian tank biathlon team has won its semi-final at the 7th International Army Games, being hosted at the Alabino shooting range near Moscow. The home crew beat Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and China on Tuesday.
Tank biathlon is a game based on the winter sport, where skiers must race through a cross-country trail and shoot rifles at targets. In tanks, crews must complete laps of an obstacle course and fire at targets from the armored vehicles while on the move. Invented by the Russian military, tank operators shoot manually, without any modern fire-control systems.
The tank biathlon world championship is held every year as part of the International Army Games at Alabino, a huge shooting range used by the Russian armed forces to simulate combat operations.
The Russian team has won every year since the competition’s inception in 2013. In 2019, the world championships were expanded and split into two divisions. This year, 19 teams are taking part, with one country – Mali – making its debut. Other participants include Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Tajikistan, Myanmar, and Qatar.
The crews all race T-72 tanks, Russian-made vehicles first produced in 1971. The modern version used for racing – the T-72B3 – was introduced in 2010.
This year’s competition is being held alongside ARMY 2021, an annual Russian Army expo highlighting the achievements of the country’s military-industrial complex.
