31.07.2015.
Everything ready for the opening of the International Military Games in Russia
Deputy Defence Minister of the Russian Federation Anatoly Ivanovich Antonov and representatives of the 16 participating countries of the International Military Games held yesterday at the international press center "Russia Today" in Moscow a press conference where, on behalf of the SAF team participating in the Games, Colonel Zeljko Kuzmanovic spoke.Deputy Minister Antonov pointed out that the International Military Games were a good example of good military and military-technical cooperation among countries. He expressed hope that in the future more countries would participate in the competition. Ivanovich wished all participants good luck and success in the competition and added that the Russian team would not spare them at training ground, but at the training ground only.
SAF members will take part in one of the disciplines of the International Military Games - Tank Biathlon. Colonel Zeljko Kuzmanovic said that our experts had carefully analyzed last year's competition and learned some lessons.
- During the preparations so far, we have had the opportunity to see that the competition will be fierce. Our team is ready and united. We
have come to Russia to show that the Serbian Armed Forces has well-trained tank units that have the knowledge and skills to compete with colleagues from far larger armies. We also came to learn something and to bring the good practices with us back to Serbia and improve the training of our armored units - Colonel Kuzmanovic said.He stressed that the soldiers would be happiest if their knowledge and skills were compared exclusively in competitions such as the tank biathlon, in honourable and sports spirit.
The ceremonial opening of the International Military Games will be held at the training ground Alabino near Moscow, on 1 August. At the International Military Games, in addition to armored vehicles, members of almost all arms and services of the conventional military, from, as announced, 17 countries of the world on land, water and in the air will also compete. At the same training ground, on 1 August, the competition competition Tank Biathlon 2015 will begin, where the SAF crew will perform among the first ones. The Serbian armored team will compete with teams of the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Mongolia, Kuwait, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Angola. As last year, all teams will compete in the Russian tanks T-72, except for China that will participate in their own combat vehicles of T-96A type.The rules of the competition have somewhat changed compared to last year. After the first stage, which is called the "individual race," eight first-placed teams are going into the semifinals. Four most successful teams in the "relay race" will pass into the finals. The winner of the Tank Biathlon will be decided by the final relay race scheduled for 15 August. Each of the three crews of all national teams will be ranked separately, and the final placement will be determined by the number of points of all the crews of a state.
