The difficulties the Vietnam team overcame to win the tank biathlon



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Vietnam does not have a T-72 tank like its rivals, it only trains with T-54 tanks with very different structures, but the soldiers are determined to win.

The Vietnamese tank team on the afternoon of September 4 won the Biathlon 2020 Tank Table 2 championship after the tense final at Alabino Stadium, a suburb of the Russian capital Moscow. The three Vietnamese crews showed very good shooting skills and maneuverability, surpassing 13/24 targets, completing 12 laps after 2 hours 12 minutes 42 seconds and finishing first, 10 minutes 8 seconds faster. Compared to the runner-up is Laos.

This is a proud achievement of the Vietnamese team, because this is the third time that Vietnamese soldiers have competed in the international tank race hosted by Russia. Vietnam is also the only country out of four countries participating in the competition without the T-72 main tank, soldiers also don’t have much time to get used to the vehicle before the competition.

Vietnamese crew trained in T-54 tanks at Vinh Phuc.  Photo: People's Army.

Vietnamese crew trained in T-54 tanks at Vinh Phuc. Image: QĐND.

In Table 2, Biathlon Tanks 2020, there are two of the eight countries that do not have a roster for T-72 tanks, including Vietnam and Qatar. Having the T-72 on the payroll gives the national team a significant advantage, when they have a lot of experience and skills to operate weapons, because the tank that is used to compete is the elevated T-72B3. T-72B series depth level.

In the semi-finals and finals, Vietnam is also the only country out of the five countries to compete without a payroll for the T-72 main tank, and soldiers don’t have much time to get used to the vehicle before the competition. The remaining countries, including Tajikistan, Myanmar, Laos and the Congo, have different versions of the T-72, in which the Laos army owns the more modern variant of the T-72B1MS “White Eagle” with similar characteristics. copper tank T-72B3.

The absence of the T-72 tank caused the members of the Vietnamese team to have a lot of difficulties during the training process for the tournament.. After being instructed to join Tank Biathlon, Vietnamese tank soldiers can only train on modified T-54MB tanks at the Vinh Phuc sports ground.

The seated position of the crew, the layout and the arrangement of weapons and equipment on the T-54 is very different from that of the T-72. The driver of the T-54 sits on the left side of the car like a car, while the driver’s seat of the T-72 is in the center of the car.

Each member of the crew, in addition to the content of the intensive training, must also learn Russian on their own, study the characteristics of the T-72B3 tank through documents. The T-72B3 tank uses a state-of-the-art fire control system with ballistic computer and automatic reloading device, only wrong operation will hamper the process of targeting, repairing and finishing. triggering, even causing technical errors that prevent the vehicle from operating.

Each T-72B3 crew consists of 3 people, including the head of the loaded truck and the 12.7mm machine gun, the gunner and the driver, while the T-54 crew has 4 people with their own reload position.

The 100 mm ammunition of the T-54 is monolithic, while the T-72 uses a warhead and removable 125 mm dose, differing in structure, weight and projectile, making the loading, reloading and firing operation. In the training process of the Vietnamese team, it was completely different from the competition.

5 matches for the Vietnamese tank team championship

5 matches that led Vietnam to the 2020 Tank Biathlon Championship. Video: QPVN, Star.

Professional Military Lieutenant Phan Anh Tuan, who won a good gunner award by killing all targets in the semi-finals of Tank Biathlon 2019, said that when he was selected to the team it was “to determine the intensity of training higher than that” . with real competition and half a year away from home ”.

Hot weather in vietnam, sometimes up to 39-40 degrees C, which greatly affects the physical strength and psychology of the crew. The space inside the T-54 tank is compared by many people as “the bowl of the bowl” after a few rounds of training in the sports field of Vinh Phuc province. In addition, Vietnam training tanks are mainly used for many years, some equipment is no longer synchronous, which creates difficulties when practicing.

The sports field and training ground in Vinh Phuc is also much narrower than Alabino in the suburbs of Moscow, Russia.The arrangement of obstacles and distances, such as the competition venue, cannot be guaranteed. This causes drivers to practice a lot to guarantee technical requirements and guarantee time. The vehicles carried out sometimes reach speeds of more than 60 km / h, the vibration and the impact when passing obstacles easily cause insecurity and injuries to the crew members.

Despite many disadvantages in training and competition, the Vietnamese team convincingly won in the final amidst the stifled emotions of the soldiers and the public. Some tank soldiers in the technical zone along with Major Dao Van Vien, in command of the Vietnamese tank crew, couldn’t hold back tears as the team won the 2020 Table 2 Biathlon Championship.

Vu anh (According to the QĐND)

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