(Newswire.net — August 4, 2015) — The Tank Biathlon 2015 is taking place in Russia for the third time. During a practice run, a Kuwaiti crew piloting a 41-ton Russian T-72 tank, the fastest tank in the world, managed to drift, then roll over in front of a smartphone camera, Russia Today reported.
The video shows the tank first making a sharp turn, than slashing through a canal field with water, before storming out and stopping at the finish.
Then camera turned and captured the moment as the heavy machine drifted in an attempt to turn right towards the canal, then jumped in the air, as if there was no gravity. After rolling around its axis, the heavy weapon slid to a stop sideways.
The author of the video that has quickly become viral on social networks can be heard swearing, although those strong words were censored.
The crew of the tank survived alive and well, only suffering some bruising according to defense, armed forces and military hardware blogger Alexey Khlopotov. Despite rolling across the canopy, the tank reportedly suffered no real damage. After another tank pushed it back onto it’s caterpillars, and it continued to the finish line.
The International Tank Biathlon Championship, which is held from August 1-15 at the Alabino firing range near Moscow, represent a small Olympic games for the military, where crews from 17 countries battle for prestige on eleven polygons.
Among other military corps, one of the games that drew a lot attention is the tank biathlon. All the crews are competing in T-72B3 models, except the Chinese team who brought their own tank, the Type 96A.
The tank course includes 15 obstacles scattered across vast rough terrain, and a firing range for precision targeting. After two days of the competition it’s no surprise that Russia has the leading position. The second is the crew from Serbia followed by a crew from Tajikistan.
The International Military Games will see 14 contests, including AviaDarts, the Caspian Cup and the Suvorov Onslaught, where the military will test its skills on land, sea and in the air.
The games have more than 2,000 foreign troops, with 400 foreign observers attending the events.