Better than war: International Tank Biathlon

I was looking up something about the winter sport "biathlon", when I stumbled over an article about "tank biathlon" in Russia.



In August 2013, Russia, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan took part in the first international tank biathlon that took place in Alabino near Moscow, which Russia won.

As this event sparked quite some interested world-wide (the Russian Defense Ministry stated that more than 40 countries had expressed interest in participating), the next International tank biathlon will now host tanks and crews from Russia, Italy, Germany, China, Czech Republic, US, and probably some more.

The goal of the event is completing an 20km obstacle course with slalom run, water crossings, bridges and steep climbs in the shortest time, while each hit/missed obstacle will add time. Additionally, three different shooting disciplines have to be completed where targets that simulate other tanks and low-flying helicopters have to be hit at distances of up to 2.2 kilometers using anti-tank ammunition, anti-aircraft machine guns, and possibly even missiles. Each misplaced shot leads to an additional penalty lap of 500m.

The second tank biathlon competition is planned to run again in Alabino from July 26 to August 10, 2014.

IMO this is a much more worthwhile activity for soldiers and their tanks than wars! (And for the companies building the tanks it sounds like some nice free advertisiment.^^)

http://rbth.co.uk/society/2013/08/19/us_italy_to_compete_in_russias_next_tank_biathlon_29033.html
http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20140123/186813594/US-to-Compete-in-Russias-Tank-Biathlon-.html

This is fantastic