Russia invents a new sport

[GDS_Starfury]

a new sport we can all enjoy.

the tank biathalon!

MOSCOW, August 10 (RIA Novosti) – Blurring the line between sports and warfare, the Russian army premiered a new sport – tank biathlon – and invited US crews to compete.

"We've invited our American colleagues to participate...and our invitation was accepted by US Secretary of Defense [Chuck] Hagel," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Saturday.

Italy and Germany also agreed to send their teams to compete with Russian and US tank crews, Shoigu said, adding that the event will take place sometime next year.

Russia will host the world's first ever tank biathlon championship next week. The country's best tank crews will compete against each other at a firing range outside Moscow, the winners then taking on competitors from Armenia, Belorussia and Kazakhstan.

The new sport allows showcasing the quality of Russian tanks, comparing them against foreign analogues, Shoigu's deputy Yury Borisov said Saturday.

Next week's event, however, will be limited to T-72 tanks, the staple of post-Soviet militaries, Vedomosti business daily said Friday.

The newspaper offered a preview of the new sport, covering a test competition held outside Moscow earlier this week. The event involved four tanks painted in bright colors – including yellow and pinkish red – which did three laps over rough terrain, shooting at targets shaped like tanks, houses and helicopters. The best time was 5:28.

[bayonetbrant]

did three laps over rough terrain, shooting at targets shaped like tanks, houses and helicopters. The best time was 5:28.

we used to call this "gunnery"

10 years or so ago, we called it "Iraq"

[Windigo]

Up until the M1A ... Canadian Centurions used to hand ameros their asses in gunnery competitions

which BTW never translated to many wins in Western Europe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Army_Trophy#See_also

There used to be the CanAm cup competition, Canada won 3 of 5 events

.... and then there are those Brits with BATUS.... with their ninja like Challenger tanks   ::)   ::)

[GDS_Starfury]

not hard to be ninja like when your 120mm cannon is rifled.  Im still not a fan of the idea of 2 part ammo though.

[bob48]

^Groovy!

[Windigo]

not hard to be ninja like when your 120mm cannon is rifled.  Im still not a fan of the idea of 2 part ammo though.

I had no idea about the rifling, I just assumed smoothbore... thought I read something somewhere saying it had the same as the Leppy-2

[GDS_Starfury]

theyre all 120mm cannon but they cant use each others ammo.

[bob48]

Interesting. I also was under the impression that it was basically the same gun and could use the same ammo.

[Windigo]

did a quick google, apparently the Brits like HESH rounds which are a lower velocity round... hence needing rifling

[bob48]

Huh. Trust us to be different!

[Windigo]

Huh. Trust us to be different!

I think its all about the doctrine

[bob48]

You would expect that the barrel life is shorter with a rifled gun than a smooth bore.

[GDS_Starfury]

not with a lower velocity.  Im pretty sure the rifled part is an internal sleeve that can be changed out.