Video - Tank biathlon: First comp in new paramilitary sport starts near Moscow.

Tank biathlon: First comp in new paramilitary sport starts near Moscow.HT: RussiaToday.

Russia is introducing ‘tank biathlon’, a new paramilitary sport about armor races and precision gunnery. The first international competition starts near Moscow on Monday. Several NATO countries, including the US, are expected to join the contest in 2014.

The concept of a direct tank crew competition recently introduced by the Russian Defense Ministry was born during an ordinary tank crew field firing exercise. What the military needs is a complex tank crew proficiency and gunnery skills test.

But while military drills are a serious and costly matter, tank biathlon is more about pure professionalism and sporting competitive spirit. The winner is champion, having ‘blown’ the competitors away.

The basic idea behind the tank contest is simple and repeats the rules of the classic biathlon: cover about 20km in shortest time while successfully hitting your targets.

The recent 2+2 meeting of the Russian Foreign and Defense ministers with their American counterparts has brought a number of positive results and among them some quite unexpected ones. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu made several proposals to the American side to further strengthen military cooperation and interaction and the US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave the green light to some. Among them is the participation of American tank crews (most probably American M1 Abrams main tanks) in the newly-invented Russian military contest.

“We have invited our American counterparts to participate in the tank biathlon competition in Russia,” Shoigu told reporters. “US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has accepted the invitation.”

Reportedly crews from other NATO countries are also likely to take part in the competition next year.

Shoigu stressed that the crews from the US and possibly Germany and Italy would be driving their own tanks. “Moreover, like our Italian counterparts said, they threaten the victory will be theirs,” Shoigu maintained. Hmmmm......Now that would be a 'nice' new olympic discipline.I wonder if Israel is allowed to play along?They're probably smart enough to refuse their 'hardware' being checked out.Read and see the full story here.