International Army Games 2021 hits new records

In just more than 20 days, the International Military Games (Army Games) 2021 will officially kick off. 277 teams from 41 countries will compete in 34 games. The Army Games 2021 will be held from August 22 to September 4.
Four out of forty one countries are participating for the first time, including Burkina Faso, Peru, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
According to statistics of the Organizing Committee, the International Army Games teams from 41 countries account for 58% of the total population on Earth. At the same time, the total area of ​​the participating countries exceeds 55 million square kilometers and occupies one third of the continental part of the planet (including the Antarctic).

Army Games 2021 will continue to expand the number of participating countries. Photo. TvZvezda
In addition to a large majority of the games taking place in Russia, a number of games are going to be held in eleven other countries, including: Belarus (3 games), China (3), Iran (3), Kazakhstan (2), Vietnam (2), Uzbekistan (2), Armenia (1), Qatar (1), Serbia (1), and Algeria (1).
For first time Vietnam, Algeria, Qatar and Serbia will host games of the Army Games. Remarkably, Vietnam will host two games, namely “Sniper frontier” and “Emergency area”.
Up to now, hosted countries have basically accomplish their infrastructure preparation and related things for the competitions.
The main periods of the Army Games are as followed:
From August 9 to 10, teams will arrive. The hosts have taken into account quarantine measures.
On August 10, all places for competitions have to prepare headquarters with equipment for online meetings to ensure daily meetings between referee teams with the Referee Board.
From August 11 to 20, the following activities will take place: team training, group stage drawing, referee certificates issuing, and assigning referee positions on the competition field.
On August 22, the International Army Games 2021 and the International Military-Technical Forum opening ceremony will be held at Patriot Park, Moscow.
The final competition of Tank Biathion and the closing ceremony will take place at Patriot Park on September 4.

Army Games strengthens friendship cooperation
In 2020, speaking at the closing ceremony of the 6th International Military Games, Russian Defense Minister General Sergei Shoigu affirmed that the Army Games “is a
competition in which there are only winners, but no losers, and only new friends, but no enemies”.
According to Minister Shoigu, from the Army Games, there appeared excellent soldiers, with new combat skills that “will be used only in competitions and training”.
He thanked participants of 32 countries and expressed gratitude to the countries that hosted games, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, and Belarus.
At the end of the speech, he expressed his hope that there would be more teams participating in the follow-on Army Games. Because it means “there will be more people who really want to cooperate and be friends. And those who, I hope will never take up arms against someone who met and became friends at these Games”.
According to statistics, at the Army Games 2020, there were nearly 4,000 military personnel participating in 30 games. And more than 1,250 weapons, equipment and specialized equipment, including aircraft and ships were also used. In particular, the
number of television viewers in the world who watched the Army Games 2020 exceeded 3 billion people.
Regarding the Army Games-2021 activities, speaking to Sputnik, the adviser to the Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan, Major General Adylbek Aldabergenov affirmed that the International Military Games contributes to the consolidation and development of military cooperation, as well as the exchange of experiences and skills improvement for the Kazakh Armed Forces.
He noted that contests provide opportunities for military personnel to improve their skills. “Our soldiers, when participating in competitions using certain combat skills, then apply them back to their unit and make them even better”.
According to many experts, the International Army Games 2021 will be a unique chance for participating military personnel to exchange experiences and improve their professional qualifications, and at the same time it contributes to enhancing understanding and deepening the
friendship among the participating teams./.

Minh Tuan