NATO-style tank biathlon: how the "leopards" beat the "abrams" and "strongholds". NATO-style tank biathlon: how "leopards" beat "abrams" and "strongholds" The time of large armies

The main prize of the Strong Europe Tank Challenge (SETC) championship, which was attended by six European NATO member countries and the United States, went to representatives of the Bundeswehr.

The revived competitions were held in Western Europe for the first time since 1991 with the participation of Denmark, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, the USA and Germany. Danish tankers were in second place, bronze went to the Poles, writes Stars and Stripes.

Judging by the videos on the official website of the European wing of the North Atlantic Alliance, the Germans brought Leopards adorned with stylized Iron Crosses into the field. They were able to demonstrate skills that were lost in the West after the Second World War and are not included in the standard training program. For example, the use of camouflage nets.

“You have to keep training, investing time and resources in training in order to have the most best forces containment. These international tank competitions are one of those things that help us improve our skills,” Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, commander of US forces in Europe, addressed the championship participants.

A report in the newspaper, which is the official press organ of the Pentagon, said that the increase in the level of readiness of the Alliance forces is necessary "to deter further aggression from Russia."

Each of the six teams was involved in offensive and defensive maneuvers, camouflage, orientation and fire training competitions.

Recall that the inventor of the tank biathlon, which is currently held in the form of a world championship, is personally considered the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu. First international competitions were held in the Moscow region in 2013 with the participation of teams from Russia, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The competitions have become annual and now include forced marches, overcoming ground and water obstacles, shooting, relay races and races. Crews of tanks compete with each other in running and strength exercises and also pass the obstacle course for speed. In the 2015 championship, the Russians won, the second place was taken by the PRC, and the third by Serbia.

Meanwhile, Russian experts have so far reacted coolly to Western competitions, so in an interview with Lente.ru, a military expert, retired colonel Viktor Murakhovsky, it is still difficult to compare the SETC championship with both Russian tank biathlon and the Canadian Army Cup held in NATO until 1991.

“Both our competitions and the Canadian Army Cup, hosted by NATO in the past, are much more difficult, include more elements and are more ambitious. So, in the new European championship there is no tank race. However, these are only the first competitions, with a rather limited number of participants, and we need to see how they will develop in the future, - said Murakhovsky.

The expert also drew attention to the fact that all crew members who participated in the first SETC are regular military personnel, while in the Tank Biathlon competitions in Russia now, and in the Canadian Army Cup in Western Europe in the 1960-1990s, draft and mixed crews. “Conscripts have been successful. Both the Dutch and the Germans won cups with conscript crews from regular British and American crews,” the expert added.

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Tank championship race

The idea of a tank championship, criticized by many, turned out to be very contagious.

In 2014, not only their colleagues from the CSTO countries were supposed to come to the second season of the "tank biathlon" in Alabino near Moscow: the Championship was conceived as a global one, invitations were sent to 41 countries of the world, including NATO countries.

The expected world tank show was held in a truncated format - after the Crimean events, the military of the North Atlantic Alliance refused to travel to Moscow. The 2015 International Army Games were also held without Western tankers (and their vehicles).

But the idea of a tank championship, criticized by many, turned out to be contagious: on May 13, 2016, representatives of the Bundeswehr won the main prize of the Strong Europe Tank Challenge (SETC) competition - the revived NATO tank championship in Europe. The first tanker competitions held in Western Europe after 1991 were attended by representatives of six member countries of the Alliance: Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and the USA. Danish tankers won silver, Polish - bronze.

The championship was held at the German Grafenwehr training ground, organized jointly by the Bundeswehr and the US Army in Europe (USAEUR). According to the Stars and Stripes Pentagon officialdom, the championship combines elements of competition, combat training and containment measures. According to the newspaper, one of the goals was to restore some of the skills lost after the end of the Cold War.

“We must continue to train, we must allocate time and resources to it in order to get a better deterrent,” said Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, commander of the US Army in Europe. “And these competitions are just a part of the events that allow us to increase our experience.”

Among such disciplines, Hodges noted tank camouflage competitions with the help of special nets, which after the end of the Cold War were not part of the regular training of NATO tankers.

Actually "tank" disciplines were only a part of the program: out of 1000 test points, 700 could be scored in two stages using technology - defensive and offensive maneuvering with fire.

Three hundred more were recruited in off-vehicle crew competitions, including physical fitness testing, shooting from personal weapons, identification various types weapons and equipment of the countries of the world, actions in the conditions of a chemical attack, actions in the conditions of a mine danger, and finally first aid and evacuation of the wounded. Each of these disciplines could bring another 50 points.

The Lenta.ru edition quoted the opinion of one of the most authoritative Russian tank experts, editor-in-chief of the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, Viktor Murakhovsky. In his opinion, the SETC championship is still difficult to compare with both the Russian tank biathlon and the Canadian Army Cup held in NATO until 1991.

Time for big armies

This is not the first time Grafenwehr has hosted the NATO tank competition. From 1963 to 1991, NATO tankers competed for the Canadian Army Trophy, a challenge silver model of the Centurion tank, which was first presented by the Canadians to their best gunner from the European contingent, and then made the prize of the all-NATO competition. From 1963 to 1991, the cup was played 17 times - from 1963 to 1968 annually, then in 1970, 1973 and then every two years in odd years.

Challenge prize Canadian Army Trophy - silver model tank "Centurion"

The Germans became champions six times, the Belgians and the British three times each, the Canadians and the Dutch twice each, and once the trophy went to American tankmen. The championships were alternately held at the training grounds in Bergen-Hohn and Grafenwöhr and were very popular.

Successes and failures were carefully considered not only by experts: the failure of the team of B Company of the Royal Hussars of the British Army in the latest Challenger tanks in the 1987 competition was the reason for the Sunday Telegraph editorial on June 21, 1987 with the headline "NATO Allies shoot down the latest British tanks ". The first and third places were then taken by the Americans on the M1IP, and the second went to the Germans on the Leopard 2A4.

The last time the trophy was played was in 1991, and in 1993 the Canadian contingent left Germany, taking the "silver tank" with them. In 1997, they tried to revive the championship already in North America, but the brawl between the USA and Canada, which thus became the direct predecessor of the Sullivan Cup, did not gain much popularity, and in 2003 it stopped. It was held irregularly - the Canadians took the trophy in 1997, 2000 and 2002, the US representatives - in 1999 and 2003.

The competitions of the heyday of the Cold War were played on a "conference" system between the northern and central NATO army groups, and it is clear that now, when the armed forces of the Alliance have fewer tanks in total than the NATO forces in West Germany used to have, competitions with such a wide base are already hardly possible. But in general, the presence in the alliance of a large number of countries with their own tank forces allows for fairly representative games if the organizers of SETC decide to use the experience of their predecessors in Grafenwehr.

The problems of a narrow base, albeit to a lesser extent, also apply to the Russian tank biathlon, where the selection has also been significantly narrowed compared to the tank crew competitions of the Soviet period. However, the use modern technologies, including, in the future, laser sensors and shooting simulators will allow both sides of the new confrontation to host spectacular competitions, including "shootouts" of the opposing teams, with considerable practical output. Such championships traditionally provide a fair amount of data for manufacturers and designers, stimulating the development of military vehicles in the same way that the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Formula 1 spur the development of sports cars.

parted ways

The Russian tank biathlon, which has turned into the International Army Games, however, will not cease to exist because NATO representatives ignore it. Its entertainment is ensured precisely by the "biathlon" format: shooting competitions are combined with the race of combat vehicles, in addition, tankers also compete in the individual sports training, demonstrate knowledge of the structure and performance characteristics of their vehicles and pass military history tests.

Tank of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan at the competition " Tank biathlon-2014"

Four countries participated in the first championship in 2013 - in addition to Russia, these were Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia, whose tankers took 2nd, 3rd and 4th places, respectively. The 2014 championship was already held with the participation of 12 countries, and this year the audience saw foreign equipment for the first time: Chinese tankers brought their own Type 96 vehicles. The tanks participating in the competition (more than a hundred units) were upgraded to the T-72B3 level, and after distributed over parts of the Western Military District.

Tank Type 96 Chinese Armed Forces at the competition "Tank Biathlon -2014"

17 countries participated in the international army games in 2015, 13 of them in the tank biathlon. In addition, the games included Aviadarts competitions, infantry fighting vehicle races, paratroopers, anti-aircraft gunners and representatives of other arms and types of weapons.

>Aviadarts was overshadowed by the death in an accident on August 2, 2015 of Igor Butenko, the crew commander of the Mi-28N helicopter of the Berkuty aerobatic team, but, nevertheless, the games took place, Russia took first place in the team standings, winning, among other things , and tank biathlon, in which Chinese and Serbian tankers took 2nd and 3rd places, respectively.

However, the growth limit for Russian competitions is already visible: the aggravation of relations with NATO will not allow in the foreseeable future to attract participants from the West, which would dramatically increase the spectacularity of the championship. In theory, it would be possible to discuss the expansion of the representation of the Arab states, including those with modern Western technology, but it is impossible to guarantee the success of these negotiations, given Moscow's not the most even relations with the monarchies of the Persian Gulf.

In today's environment, it can be predicted that both Russia and NATO will develop their own versions of war games separately, and most likely, the scale of NATO competitions will increase in the coming years, just as Russian ones grew in 2014-15.

Its analogue of tank biathlon also arose in the United States, where in 2016 the first competitions for the Sullivan Cup were held - a retired chief of staff of the US Army, who decided to organize an American tank championship proper, in which, however, Canadian servicemen also took part.

The American championship includes competitions for tank platoons and crews, mainly focusing on shooting. It is hardly worth expecting a great international future from him, but given the traditional preference of Americans for their domestic competitions over international ones, US tankers will most likely consider their own cup more prestigious.

The end of the epic dedicated to the NATO exercises "Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2017". Competition analysis.

What is the difference between the Russian "tank biathlon" and the "Strong Europe Tank Challenge". Russian competitions are, first of all, competitions, while NATO annual meetings of the best tank platoons are, after all, exercises in which points are simply set. Each of the activities has its own specifics and, accordingly, goals. The purpose of "biathlon" is the propaganda of military power, through competitions. The purpose of the NATO event, honing skills, working out the interaction of the armies of the allies and ... exchange of experience.

That is why it is not worth drawing complete parallels between them. But ... interest in such events is not accidental.

Commander of the US Army in Europe, three-star General Ben Hodges, commented on the invitation of the Ukrainian team to take part in the annual NATO tank training competition:

“The experience of a Ukrainian platoon that fought against Russian tanks is extremely useful for all of us. This is one of the motives for making a decision regarding the participation of Ukraine in the current competitions, and I hope that they will take part in them in the future.”

So, the interest of the NATO generals was by no means ostentatious. They really wanted to see how Ukrainian soldiers would operate on Soviet armored vehicles. And the question of how much they could beat their colleagues from other countries was by no means academic.

Competition program

It can be conditionally divided into two parts. The first can be called "tanks in combat", the second "tanks out of combat".

Tanks in battle: - live firing units in the offensive and defense, driving combat vehicles, determining the distance to the target, target recognition.

Tanks out of combat: - performing a variety of exercises: from regular small arms, calling fire support, tactical medicine and evacuating the wounded, actions when the enemy uses weapons of mass destruction, evacuating a damaged tank, physical training participants, in particular, while overcoming a specialized obstacle course and a sports relay race.

Of course, the border here is conditional and each element "out of combat" can play an important role in a real battle. But nonetheless…

To evaluate the results, I will first give the final table:

1. Austria (Leopard 2A4)

2. Germany (Leopard 2A6)

4. France (Leclerc)

5. Ukraine (T-64BV mod.)

6. Poland (Leopard 2A5)

I will not analyze “non-combat” exercises, since it is not worth assessing how much better Ukrainian crews shoot a pistol and evacuate the wounded, but we will focus on exercises that demonstrate in some way the capabilities of military equipment.

The results of "combat" training

Let's move on to comparing the combat capabilities of vehicles. Despite the fifth final place (the Ukrainian team literally did not overtake the French in the Leclercs), the crews of the 14th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed themselves well in combat exercises (according to the results of these competitions, they were third). As a result, they "shot" the Poles, French and Austrians, losing only to the latest versions of the Leopard-2 and Abrams. And this despite the fact that during the exercise "action of a tank platoon in defense" due to the fire of the grass on the training ground, five targets burned down and it was decided to the Ukrainian crews not to count (!!!).

And yet, from interviews with Ukrainian tank crews, it follows that on the first day when the “tank platoon on the offensive” exercise was practiced, they drove around the training ground for the first time in their lives. That is, even without "rehearsals". The rules required it.

At the same time, the German training ground for NATO tankers has long been like a native, which gave them undeniable advantages over the Ukrainian crews.

If you put it all together, it turns out that the good old "sixty-four" in not the best configuration, in fact, performed on an equal footing with the most modern NATO tanks.

Explanations for the table. According to it, the crews of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were even second in firepower, but ... in the official release of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, they appear third, which is why the article says so. After all, the table could then be appealed. Oh, it's a pity for these ill-fated five targets in the defense ... it could have been a sensation at all !!!

By the way, it would be interesting to know what kind of guns the Ukrainian tankers fired from. The question is by no means idle, since the wear of the barrel and the quality of the steel of the gun itself are extremely important for accuracy. And in Ukraine, high-quality trunks were never produced. Those that were made in Sumy in the 1990s withstood half as many shots as compared to the Soviet ones (the quality of the casting was lame). It would be laughter if it turned out that the Ukrainians fired from the Sumy barrels ... True, it is possible that the Ukrainian team used the barrels from the Soviet reserves.

conclusions

We carefully look at the table. The competition was won by the crews operating the most "ancient" model of the "Leopard" (of those participating). The Leopard-2A4 version was created in the late 1980s and, in fact, is largely similar in terms of filling to the Ukrainian T-64 BV.

By the way, the new thermal imagers from the Orizon plant did not come in handy for Ukrainian crews, due to the lack of night firing in the competition program (which is a pity).

All other versions of combat vehicles were much younger ... and that's just how they "did not show themselves" (not counting the firing))).

So. Conclusion one. good technique, this is certainly good, but the training of the crew, as before, is in one of the first places.

Second conclusion. The overall results of the Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2017 were not as interesting as the particular ones. The crews of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who acted on one of the most ancient modern Soviet tanks, showed themselves at their best. This means that they are not so bad, as our Western "partners" like to say about it.

The tradition of holding military competitions, bringing the best combat vehicles and showing the most experienced crews in action was born a long time ago. However, on such a scale, as in Russia, such a military sports festival has never been held anywhere by anyone. Saber-rattling and folk love Many have become accustomed to the headlines of most American and European media about military maneuvers in Russia. Any more or less large-scale events are accompanied by colorful shots of shooting and off-screen text about which country Russia can capture with the forces involved in the exercises. Passion for the Russian army reached a particular intensity at the moment when the European military learned about the start of preparations by the Russian military for tank biathlon - a unique event in a number of ways. The first and main feature of the tank biathlon was the months-long process of selecting military personnel. There are many professional and talented tankers in four military districts, but out of thousands for competitions on final stage only a dozen people are selected. At first, the Western press and military experts were skeptical about the event. They called the tank biathlon in different ways. "Putin's personal toy" is the most innocuous of everything that was published. However, almost immediately military experts realized that no sensible criticism of the Russian event would work. The entire organization was carried out with the direct support of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and tank biathlon turned from military competitions into one of the most popular events, which spectators come from different cities to watch. international sensation. True, along with the success and interest in tank competitions for accuracy, speed and training, caustic reviews about the fact that "Russia is again saber-rattling" were added. However, only later, when the hysteria around the “demonstration war” subsided, those wishing to participate in the tank biathlon began to appear by themselves. The openness of the Russian Ministry of Defense in this regard amazed many, and the list of tank crews from other countries is another confirmation of this. In addition to the best crew from Russia, tankers from Armenia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, India, Mongolia, Venezuela, Angola, Serbia, Kuwait and China took part in the competition.
The latter were especially remembered by the audience at the training ground. The Kuwaiti crew lost control and overturned the T-72B tank provided for the race. Chinese tankers decided not to use Russian armored vehicles, and brought to Russia the latest Type-96G tanks specially prepared for "racing" of their own production. At the end of January 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that, in addition to the invitations sent, it became known that the United States wanted to send its tanks and crew to the biathlon in Russia. The president said then that Russia would gladly accept a team from the United States as participants, and all experts in armored vehicles immediately began to argue about the likely outcome of the "tank race of the century" between the American M1 Abrams and Russian T-72Bs. However, the American tankers never made it to the Russian biathlon.
The main result of tank biathlon for Europe was "Russia's demonstration of its aggressive plans and moods", and for Russian citizens, tank biathlon has become the same popular view sports, like football matches. The head of one of the military registration and enlistment offices in the Central Military District, in an interview with the Zvezda TV channel, told how tank biathlon affected the popularity of the Russian army. And in general, after the first (tank) biathlon competitions ended, there were much more people who wanted to serve. This applies not only to tank troops, by the way. Artillery, motorized rifles - in almost all areas we are seeing steady growth," the military commissar explained. Democratic values
"Dear partners in NATO" for a long time scoffed about the tank biathlon. Like, the Russians have nothing to do, races and firing on tanks suit them. Of course, tank biathlon is a spectacular sight. Combat vehicles rush at great speed, shoot on the move and from a place, "dive" into artificial reservoirs and ram each other in the struggle for best time. It was this intensity of passion from such a competition that the viewer was waiting for. And he was not, by the way, not a bit disappointed. No one took seriously the numerous remarks of European politicians in this regard, because the “song” with criticism of Russia at every opportunity will be eternal. However, enlightened Europeans took the “barbaric races” on tanks ... and copied them, calling them the “Strong Europe Tank Challenge”. True, in contrast to the traditional Russian hospitality, the Europeans demonstrated the “isolation” of the event. It is worth noting that the Russian tank biathlon was conceived as an event of a global, world scale. Invitations were sent to the military from 40 countries. The tank biathlon "in European style" was held in the best traditions of European politics: they invited only their own people and some to beat.
Tankers from the USA, Germany, Denmark, Poland, France and .... Ukraine arrived at the Bavarian Grafenwöhr training ground to find out who is the best in tank craft. The implementation of the European event, both in scope and complexity, did not surpass the Russian tank biathlon - the NATO event is generally more like an ordinary exercise. The main interest in this event was generated by two key points. The first is related to what progressive Europeans recently called Russian biathlon almost "barbaric" competition, but they analyzed the success and copied the idea. True, in the end, the European military turned out to be completely different biathlon, which will cause an increase in the popularity of the army and the armed forces. “This is somewhat not the biathlon that we are engaged in. They took the component that we have in formations and units - combat shooting, skills technical training, providing medical care, shooting from personal weapons, and so on,” said Lieutenant General Ivan Buvaltsev, head of the Main Directorate of Combat Training, last summer.
Another circumstance that aroused interest in the European biathlon is the participation in the “competitions” of the crew and the T-64BV tank from Ukraine. More precisely, not by performance, but by its results. According to the results of several days of competition, the Ukrainian crew was in last place, showing worst results in all disciplines and gaining only 750 points. The leaders of the competition were American tankers. The first place is taken by the American crew with a score of 1533 points. Silver and bronze were taken by tankers from Austria and Germany, showing a performance of 1347 and 1148 points, respectively. Of course, the disastrous performance of their tankers by the Ukrainian press was presented as a complete and unconditional triumph that "shocked" NATO, but in practice, the European "partners" of Ukraine were convinced of the low the level of training of Ukrainian tankers. The complex problem that the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had been hushing up for decades has become obvious.
It is not yet known for what reason the European military decided to arrange a tank “call” and invite Ukrainian tankers as “whipping boys”. However, it would be much more professional and fair to compete with a large number of experienced opponents in several disciplines that are completely different from each other. But this, apparently, is not a European approach.