By Lai Yuhong and Jing Haihui
MOSCOW, August 25 -- Since the International Army Games 2020 (IAG 2020) kicked off on August 23, the Chinese participants have achieved excellent results in the opening contests of the "Tank Biathlon" and "Airborne Platoon".
On August 23, the first stage of the "Tank Biathlon" Individual Race started. In the first round of competition, the Chinese PLA’s Type 96B tank played against those of Belarus, Serbia and Azerbaijan. Based on the competition rules, each team has to run two and a half laps on a 4.3-kilometer-long track, passing 11 obstacles in 10 categories, including the ford, mine barrier, track bridge model, comb, etc., while shooting at targets of various distances with tank guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, and coaxial machine guns.
During the race, all shots of the Chinese participants hit the targets, and their speed reached 75 km per hour on the track, which took the lead by absolute advantage in the contest and temporarily ranked first by a record of 19 minutes and 44 seconds.
On August 24, the first stage of the "Airborne Platoon" kicked off at the Kislovo landing site in Russia, focusing on the subject of parachute jump within a platoon, assembling of the platoon on the drop zone, and battle march. The Chinese team took the lead in the pre-match draw. The team members onboard three helicopters determined the timing of jumping out of the cabin at an altitude of 600m on their own, quickly completed the airborne assembly after a smooth landing and began the one-kilometer running with parachutes on their backs, and then marched to the predetermined location 10km away.
The first stage of the "Airborne Platoon" was conducted under the conditions of no meteorological data, no ground-to-air guidance, and no ground command. Each step simulated the entire process of platoon parachuting and assembling, close to the actual combat conditions. Thus, it is a real test of the comprehensive ability and quality for service members. In the end, the Chinese team ranked first in the first stage’s competition with a score of 48 minutes and 33 seconds.
