In the combat training system of the ground forces of NATO countries, great importance is attached to the competitiveness factor, which is most clearly manifested in various competitions between tank crews, gun crews, subunits, units, formations and even army groups.
In the opinion of Western military experts, in the context of the reduction of conventional armed forces and armaments, special attention should be paid to raising the level of training of servicemen, primarily the personnel of tank units and formations - the strike force of the ground forces.
The high professionalism of the tank crews of the armed forces of the Alliance countries is achieved both through routine training in the combat training system and as a result of the preparation and holding of competitions, the most important of which is the drawing of the Canadian Army Trophy.
Official emblem of the 1963 competition
Tankers' competitions have been held since 1963 at the initiative of the command of the Canadian ground forces. At the same time, a prize was established to award the winners - a silver model of the Centurion tank. The organizers of the competition, not without reason, believed that they would serve to increase the level of fire training of tank crews of ground forces deployed in the Central European theater of operations, to establish closer friendly relations between the military personnel of various NATO countries.
The main prize is a silver model of the "Centurion" tank
During the competition for the "Canadian Army Prize", the fire training of tank crews is tested. In preparation for them, among the driver mechanics, competitions are held to replace tank engines, the results of which are not included in the overall standings of the teams.
When it comes to shooting from tanks, the teams compete on hitting accuracy and rate of fire. The main goal is to hit targets from a cannon and a machine gun day and night from a place and in motion at ranges from 800 to 2400 m in a minimum time.
The prize was played in the conditions of a gradual complication of the situation. Initially, firing is carried out from the spot by single crews at targets, the distance to which is known. Then the crews in the subunits fire from a place and on the move at stationary and moving targets that appear at various distances.
Competitions were held every two years. Until 1983, they were a struggle for primacy between individual tank platoons of NATO countries. The teams of the Northern and Central Army Groups were officially represented in the competitions, each of which includes 10-12 tank platoons from different countries, however, the crews fought not so much for the victory of the army group as for the honor of the land forces of their countries. Therefore, according to the results of the competition, an unofficial winner among the platoons is determined.
Each competition brings its own surprises.
In 1987, the American tank crews won the cup in the Abrams, the American tank platoon also took third place, and the second place was taken by the participants in the Leopard-2. The last place was taken by the British, who were driving the Challenger tanks, greatly undermining the prestige of British tank building in general and the Vickers company in particular. As a result, Britain did not send its crews to the 1989 competition.
In 1989, the competitions were held on June 9-23 in Germany at the Bergen-Hone training center (Hanover). Their organizers did their best to bring in elements of the real battlefield environment. If in 1987 each platoon received the same number of targets in one combination, then in 1989 - in different ones. In the last competition, night shooting was held for the first time. The dimensions of targets installed at ranges over 1500 m have been reduced from 230X230 cm to 165X190 cm, and for shorter ones - to 110X190 cm.
In the 1989 competitions, 21 tank platoons took part in the struggle for the honorable trophy. The command of the Northern Army Group was represented by ten platoons (two each from 1 Army Corps of Belgium and 1 Army of the Netherlands, three each - 1 Army Corps of the Federal Republic of Germany and 2 US armored personnel carriers). 11 platoons played for the command of the Central Army Group (three each from the 2nd Army Corps of the Federal Republic of Germany, the 5th and 7th Army Corps of the United States, two - from Canada's 4 Marine Brigade).
In accordance with the conditions of the competition, tank crews in platoons fired from cannons at 32 targets and from machine guns at 80, which were lifting and falling targets of tanks that appeared for 40 seconds, and human figures. Each tank had 12 rounds and 250 rounds of ammunition in a ratio of one tracer to three conventional. In addition to the ammunition, four shells and 125 rounds were issued, which could only be used with the permission of the judges.
The competition included five stages. At the first, the firing was carried out from a standing position from a cannon, first at two and then at four targets located at different distances. At the second stage, the crews fired on the move from machine guns at four targets, which appeared 10 times, and from a cannon at two. The third stage is firing from a standing position with a cannon at eight targets set at the same range. The fourth stage included firing on the move at three targets from a cannon and at four targets that appeared 10 times from a machine gun. At the fifth stage, the crews fired from a standstill from the cannon, first at five, then at eight targets.
The results of the competition were evaluated in points, which were summed up based on the following indicators: 10 thousand points were awarded for defeating 32 targets from a cannon; 8, 5 thousand - for the highest rate of fire with a scale "target detection time - shot" from 1 to 40 s; 500 - additional bonus for hitting 32 targets; 1600 - a prize to a tank crew for hitting targets from a cannon with 16 rounds; 25 - for hitting each target with a machine gun (2000 points in total). Thus, the maximum number of points that a platoon could theoretically score was 22,600.
Although the winner among the tank platoons was not officially determined, the authoritative Austrian military magazine "Troop-pendinst" presented their results, ten of which are reflected in the table.
The official results of the competition: the first place was taken by the team of the Northern Army Group (the average number of points received by a tank platoon, 13,951), the second - by the team of the Central Army Group (13,436).
The scoring system included not only the number of targets hit, but also the rate of fire. In the last type of competition, the first five places were taken by platoons that performed on Leopard-2 tanks. The average time during which they detected and hit the target was 13 seconds, and on the Leopard-2 tanks, the crews solved these problems about twice as fast as on the M1A1 Abrams. The best time was shown by a platoon of ground forces of the Netherlands.
From the album of the Dutch tankman M. Hayman dedicated to the tankers' competition for the "Canadian Army Prize" in 1987.
In 1987, the competition took place from 16 to 19 July at the Grafenvohr training center in Bavaria. The Netherlands team took fourth place in these competitions, the Canadians took the third, the Germans took the second, and the Americans took the first.
