Tank biathlon

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

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

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
			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 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:

• Individual race
• Sprint
• Pursuit
• Athletic stage^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[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

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 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

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.^{[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

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

1st Division

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
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

2nd Division

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
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
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

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