I’d pay to see that… from a safe distance, mind you. But won’t NATO and the Israelis want an invite, too?
Well that certainly sounds interesting.
Well the US is NATO.
Part of… but not the whole thing.
I guess they can have submarine races next.
Oh Hell Yeah. Something like that could draw monster ratings, or do it on PPV for charity. Have a preliminary round among our Army & Marines as a qualifier. Maybe even turn it into a world level event during that awful time between the Superbowl and the NFL draft…
With subs you play hide and seek.
I still can’t see how it becomes a biathlon. No mention of the tanks swimming 6 miles and then switching to racing bikes. There’s just a 20-km stretch and then it got boring.
Everyone knows Russian tanks are superior anyway. I mean, didn’t we meet our teacher at the bank with a loaded Russian tank?
I suppose we could have met her with a loaded American tank, but that didn’t scan.
I brought my girlfriend to those, once. They were really fucking boring. We made out, instead of bothering to watch.
The Winter Olympics have a biathlon of skiing and shooting.
I say load the tanks with paintball loads and just let them go at it in some neutral arena, like Germany.
Sounds like fun. But yeah, make it a tournament. May I suggest for a site, the Ardennes for the semifinals and Kursk for the gold?
Sounds like a stunt to sell more T-90s to foreign customers. The Russians aren’t buying any more themselves because they’re waiting for their fourth generation MBT.
Interesting challenge, clearly intended to get the invitee to reveal its tank’s full capabilities. Smart move: accept the invite, and instruct the crew to keep the Abrams below 40 mph, don’t fire at anything further than 1km, and don’t fire at anything while moving. Also, feign noob skillz and multiple systems failures.
“Dang, Russia. Looks like your gear is superior alrighty.”
Why bother? The Abrams has been deployed in combat eleventy billion times. The Russians already know everything it can do, and that certainly includes its top speed. Nothing about its problematic gas turbine powerplant is classified.
It’s surely more of a simmer down now move than a true war game exercise isn’t it?
Winner gets Edward Snowden!
Would be interesting to see a multi-nation tanklympics. 100m dash from a cold start, precision shooting, marathon, long jump (granted you’d need a ramp for the last one). Wonder which would win in a Sumo contest…
It is a shame they didn’t invite other NATO members as I reckon our own Challenger II would give them a run for their money. Germany’s Leopard 2 is no slouch either.
What next-Laser Tag World War III Championship?
It’s all good fun 'til somebody gets a laser rangefinder poked out.