The tank biathlon that has been taking place in Alabino near Moscow for several years has undoubtedly aroused genuine interest. In the Soviet and Russian army, such biathlons have not been held before, the beginning was laid in 2013. From the next year they became international.
Previously, tank biathlon was organized only by NATO member countries. In connection with the collapse of the Union in 1991, their implementation was considered inappropriate. After looking at a resurgent Russia, NATO decided to revive such biathlon in 2016 and even started inviting Ukraine, which is striving to join NATO, to them.
23 countries participate in the Russian tank biathlon, these are the former republics of the Union, Asia, Africa and South America. All perform in Russian T-72B3 tanks, except for China and Belarus, who decided to participate in their tanks. Unfortunately, there is not a single NATO country that could show other tanks and another school of crew training.
I got to the tank biathlon on an invitation card and was surprised: it turns out that for those who are not invited, this is already a paid pleasure (from 700 to 1500 rubles). The first thing that strikes you is a good and well-functioning organization, starting with a well-maintained infrastructure. Previously, I had to visit Kubinka more than once, it's all close by, and I remember well the broken roads, squalid buildings and the ascetic atmosphere of a military training ground.
Now everything is different, the Patriot military-patriotic park has been deployed here on a huge territory, excellent roads, interchanges, two huge parking lots for several thousand cars, buildings and grounds of the congress and exhibition center for the presentation and demonstration of military equipment have been built.
At the biathlon range, there are superbly equipped stands, military equipment, a lot of pavilions for entertainment, up to the possibility of shooting from a machine gun. Military and civilian guides are everywhere, offering their services and explaining what, where and how. The interior of the pedestrian paths under the stylized red star was chosen in a very original way, which immediately emphasizes where you are.
Before the races, for the convenience of the spectators, the plane at a low altitude twice dumps tons of water onto the track so that there is no dust, and the races begin. Each crew makes three laps along a track about 4 km long. On the first one they shoot from a cannon. Three shots at target number 12 "tank" at a distance of 1700 m. On the second - from an anti-aircraft machine gun, 15 rounds at a target "helicopter" at a distance of 900 m. And on the third - from a coaxial machine gun, 15 rounds at a target "RPG" at a distance 600 m. At the same time, the route is full of obstacles such as a mound, a hill, a escarpment, a slope, an anti-tank ditch and a ford.
Shooting from all types of weapons is conducted only from the spot. The cannon is fired, apparently, with inert high-explosive fragmentation projectiles at a distance of 1700 m at a target measuring 3, 42x2, 37 m, and this is at a direct firing range of this cannon of 1100-1200 m! For this class of tanks, the actual firing range when firing on the move is approximately 2500-2700 m, and all tanks are tested according to this criterion. Therefore, competition at long ranges, both when shooting from a standstill and on the move, would reveal the true class of crews and their skills.
Despite the small firing ranges, individual crews do not always hit the target. Here, probably, the capabilities of the not fully automated control system of this tank with the gunner's sight TPD-K1 with single-plane stabilization and low magnification (8 times), which does not allow it to accurately aim and shoot, also affect it. Still, the capabilities of this FCS are much lower than the capabilities of the next generation FCS 1A45, where the gunner's sight includes optics with 12x magnification and full automation of the firing process.
The magnification factor of the optics when shooting is also of great importance. For example, when testing the first sight with a laser rangefinder "Ob" with an 8x magnification to determine its capabilities, we placed a kung at a distance of 4000 m, and the gunner could not find it against the background of the terrain. For such competitions, it was possible to provide tanks with a more advanced LMS, developed more than thirty years ago.
When driving on flat sections of the track, the crews tried to show the maximum speed, one crew reached a speed of 57 km / h. When the car goes at a distance of about 700-1000 m, it looks beautiful, but when it passes next to the stands, you can see how heavy and with a load the tank is. For a 46-ton car, the engine power of 840 hp is clearly not enough, a new 1000 hp engine is required, which will not reach the army in any way.
In general, tank biathlon leaves a good impression; in the process of its conduct, the goal is to determine the best crew and their skills in using the tank's capabilities, however, in rather sparing conditions. In addition to identifying the best crew, it would be interesting to identify the best tank when participating in the competition of various tanks from different countries and compare their characteristics, organizing the competition in a slightly different direction.
Such competitions can be organized to identify the best tank in terms of the combination of characteristics between Russian tanks (T-80 and T-90), American Abrams, German Leopard, French Leclerc and all other tanks that are ready to put up for such competitions. Compete in real conditions, move over rough terrain, shoot from a place and on the move at a real range in conditions of dust and smoke interference and not at predetermined targets, but which still need to be detected.
Such a comparison of different schools of tank building and different systems for training crews would allow to get a real picture of the relationship between the capabilities of tanks and to make an objective assessment of which of them is still better, and this would cause world recognition of such a biathlon. According to various information, it was as if they were invited, but they refused. If they do not come to us, you can go to them, if you have something. They also hold their tank biathlon in Germany, why not take part in them.
With all the good preparation and conduct of the tank biathlon for spectators in the stands, it is not of interest in everything. When the tanks pass in front of the stands, it is really impressive, but most of the crew's actions take place at a great distance, about 500-1000 m, and the spectator loses the factor of presence. He only sees separate episodes and replays of the crew's actions on two large screens.
The viewer must be made a participant in everything that happens on the track. It is advisable to bring the sections of the track closer to the viewer, which, in principle, cannot be near the stands, this is firing and overcoming obstacles. Create the effect of the viewer's presence there by filming at this point and displaying information on the screen in front of him.
This requires filming inside the tank: how the crew fires or overcomes an obstacle, how the vehicle overcomes an obstacle from different angles, or how the target is hit (by slow-motion shooting of the projectile's flight when the target is hit or missed). With modern means, it is not so difficult to do this, it is necessary to equip the tanks and the track with video cameras, UAVs and quadcopters, put more screens and display information there from the most spectacular areas.
For more interest of the spectators, in front of the “warm-up” stands, individual tank races can be arranged, the track allows two tanks to be placed and “knockout races” can be arranged on a 500-meter stretch, which will arouse interest worse than races at the hippodrome. If it is decided to make a show out of tank biathlon, then it must be equipped accordingly and presented as a high-level entertainment complex. Sports competitions are of great interest, among other things, because the viewer sees the process in front of him and becomes his accomplice.
