From Tank Ballets to Arts and Crafts, Russia’s Army Games Were an Entertaining Mess

• Russia held the fifth annual Army Games competition from late August to early September.
• The games drew military teams from around the world, but mostly from the Russian orbit.
• The competition included a number of stunts and accidents, including the Vietnamese team accidentally getting COVID-19.

Now that the 2020 International Army Games have concluded, it’s time to look at the highlights. The games, hosted by the Russian military, feature contestants from around the world involved in a total of 31 competitive events–almost all of which involve weapons and training for combat. This year’s games included a number of entertaining competitions, spectacles, and mishaps.

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Moscow started the International Army Games in 2015, apparently as a bigger, flashier alternative to NATO-centric events such as the Strong Tank Europe event and the Europe Best Sniper Competition. The events include Tank Biathalon, Sniper Frontier, Seaborne Assault, a nuclear/chemical/biological warfare event called Safe Environment, and even military working dog and equestrian competitions.

The games are primarily held in Russia at the Alabino training ground and Kubinka airfield just outside Moscow. Twenty-eight countries participated in this year’s games (up from 18 last year), including Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Iran, India, Russia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

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Many of the countries involved are pro-Russian former Soviet republics, followed by countries like India and Vietnam that are generally non-aligned, but are longtime customers for Soviet and Russian military equipment. No NATO countries were among the attendees, although U.S. and NATO forces were invited to the inaugural 2015 games. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 60 additional countries sent observers, though Moscow declined to actually name them.

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The Army Games are a combination of slightly campy exhibitions put on by Russian forces and the actual games themselves. Here’s a tank “ballet” put on by four T-80U main battle tanks, for example:

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The tank waltz with four T-80U tanks. 9/ pic.twitter.com/ZeKjvdBTMW

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) August 24, 2020

A Russian tank then went on to paint the Russian military five-pointed star on a sheet of poster paper. While the stunt had no military usefulness, it does show the level of control possible with a tank’s turret controls.

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Undeniable proof that American tank crews have been outgunned by their Russian counterparts in arts and crafts.https://t.co/oRrqCnxrFd pic.twitter.com/8ckXvu8Tw3

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) July 2, 2019

During the tank gunnery competition, a number of tanks fired anti-tank guided missiles at targets. Many of the missiles, which are supposed to have about a 90 percent hit rate, missed their targets. Of at least 11 missiles, only five missiles scored hits.

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It appears only the 4th T-80U hit its target with its ATGM. 19/ pic.twitter.com/LRw6RefQrd

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) August 24, 2020

Tank crews from Russia scored first place in the tank biathlon, a key event that sees tanks in brightly painted colors performing various combat-related tasks. Chinese tankers scored second place, probably because they shipped their own Type 96 tanks all the way to Alabino for the event. Tank crews sent by other, poorer countries must use T-72 main battle tanks supplied by the Russian Army, which are sometimes more advanced than the ones they’re used to back home.

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China Wins Tank Biathlon’s Individual Race at In’l Army Games

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One of the most interesting competitions had nothing to do with tanks, missiles, or sniping. The field kitchen event had military cooks doing specialties from their own countries, including this delectable spread from Azerbaijan’s team:

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#Azerbaijan/i military chefs participate in the “Field Kitchen” contest, which is being held as part of the International Army Games-2019.
They demonstrate their abilities in preparing various types of national dishes and also conduct “master classes” for the guests. @wwwmodgovaz pic.twitter.com/SU5Wrc3965

— Emb of Azerbaijan US (@azembassyus) August 7, 2019

The games wrapped up with a spectacular light show put on by 700 drones. The drones assembled themselves into various types of military equipment, from older T-34 tanks to modern T-90 series tanks, and from propeller driven World War II-era fighters to a newer Sukhoi Flanker fighter. (The newer equipment is all for sale, of course.)

And attendees didn’t just bring medals home. According to Vietnamese Express International, 14 of the 125 Vietnamese participants at the games tested positive for COVID-19 upon return. Although it shares a border with China, Vietnam has had just 1,054 cases of COVID-19, and a mere 35 deaths.

Kyle Mizokami

Writer on Defense and Security issues, lives in San Francisco.