For the "Canadian Army Prize"
In the combat training system of the ground forces of the NATO countries, great importance is attached to the competitiveness factor, which is most pronounced in various competitions between crews tanks, calculations of guns, units, units, formations and even army groups.
According to Western military experts, in the context of reducing conventional armed forces and armaments, special attention should be paid to raising the level of training of military personnel, primarily personnel of tank units and formations - the striking force of ground forces.
The high professionalism of the tankers of the armed forces of the countries of the Alliance is achieved both through planned exercises in the combat training system and as a result of the preparation and conduct of competitions, the most important of which is the Canadian Army Trophy.
Tank crews have been held since 1963, at the initiative of the Canadian Ground Forces Command. At the same time, a prize was established for awarding the winners - a silver model of the tank “Centurion”. It was not without reason that the organizers of the competition believed that they would serve to increase the level of fire training of tank crews of ground forces stationed in the Central European theater of operations, and to establish closer friendly relations between the military personnel of various NATO countries.
During the competition for the “prize of the Canadian army”, the fire training of tank crews is checked. In preparation for them among the drivers, competitions are held to replace the engines of tanks, the results of which are not included in the overall standings of the teams.
As for firing from tanks, teams compete for hit accuracy and rate of fire. The main goal is the destruction of targets from a cannon and a machine gun day and night from a standstill and in motion at distances from 800 to 2400 m in minimal time.
The prize was played in conditions of a gradual complication of the situation. Initially, the shooting is carried out from the scene by single crews at targets, the distance to which is known. Then, the crews of the units fire from the spot and from the go at fixed and moving targets appearing at various distances.
Competitions were held every two years. Before 1983, they represented a struggle for primacy between individual NATO-made tank platoons. In the competitions, teams of Northern and Central Army Groups were officially represented, each of which included 10-12 tank platoons from various countries, however, the crews fought not only for the victory of the army group, but for the honor of the ground forces of their countries. Therefore, according to the results of the competition is determined by the unofficial winner among the platoons.
Each competition presents its own surprises.
In 1987, the Cup was won by American tankers on the Abrams, the American tank platoon also took third place, the second was from participants who spoke at Leopard-2. The last place was taken by the British, who spoke on the Challenger tanks, severely undermining the prestige of British tank building in general, and Vickers in particular. As a result, Britain did not set up its crews for the 1989 competition.
In 1989, competitions were held in the period 9-23 of June in the Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of the Bergen-Hone training center (Hannover). Their organizers did their best to introduce elements of the real situation of the battlefield. If in the 1987, each platoon received the same number of targets in the same combination, in 1989, in different. At the last competitions night firing was held for the first time. Dimensions of targets installed at distances above 1500 m are reduced from 230X230 cm to 165X190 cm, and for shorter ones to 110X190 cm.
In the 1989 competition of the year, the 21 tank platoon participated in the battle for the trophy. The team of the Northern Army Group was represented by ten platoons (two for each from 1 ak of Belgium and 1 in the Netherlands, three for each - 1 ak of Germany and 2 United States BTR). For the command of the Central Army Group, 11 platoons acted (three for each from 2 ak of Germany, 5 and 7 ak of the USA, two - 4 of the IBRM of Canada).
In accordance with the conditions of the competition, tank crews as part of platoons fired from guns at 32 targets and machine guns at 80, which were lifting targets of tanks that appeared on 40 c, and human figures. The ammunition of each tank was 12 shells and 250 cartridges in the ratio of one tracer to three ordinary. In addition to the ammunition, four shells and 125 cartridges were issued, which could only be used with the permission of the judges.
Competitions included five stages. At the first shooting was carried out from a cannon, first at two, and then at four targets located at different distances. At the second stage, the crews fired from the machine gun at four targets that appeared 10 times, and from the cannon at two. The third stage - shooting from a cannon at eight targets set at the same range. The fourth stage included firing at a go at three targets from a cannon and at four 10 times appearing targets from a machine gun. At the fifth stage, the crews fired from the cannon, first at five, then at eight targets.
The results of the competitions were evaluated in points, which were summarized on the basis of the following indicators: 10 points were credited for defeating 32 targets from a cannon; 8,5 thousand - for the highest rate of fire with a scale of "target detection time - shot" from 1 to 40 with; 500 - additional bonus for losing 32 targets; 1600 - tank crew premium for hitting targets from 16 guns; 25 - for the defeat of each target with a machine gun (total points 2000). Thus, the maximum number of points that a platoon could theoretically score was 22 600.
Although the official winner among the tank platoons was not determined, the authoritative Austrian military magazine "Troup-Pendinst" gave their results, ten of which are shown in the table.
The official results of the competition: the first place was taken by the team of the Northern Army Group (the average number of points received by the tank platoon, 13 951), the second - the team of the Central Army Group (13 436).
The scoring system included not only the number of targets hit, but also the rate of fire. According to the last type of competition, the first five places were taken by platoons who acted on Leopard-2 tanks. The average time during which they detected and hit the target was 13 seconds, and the crews on these Leopard 2s performed these tasks approximately twice as fast as on the МХNUMXА1 Abrams. The best time was shown by a platoon of land forces of the Netherlands.
From the album of the Dutch tankman M. Hayman dedicated to the tank competition for the "Prize of the Army of Canada" in 1987.
In 1987, competitions took place from 16 to 19 in July at the Grafenvohr training center in Bavaria. The team of the Netherlands in this competition took fourth place, the third was taken by the Canadians, the second went to the Germans, and the first to the Americans.
Sources:
http://pentagonus.ru/publ/9-1-0-630
http://pentagonus.ru/publ/9-1-0-676
http://ru-armor.livejournal.com/231453.html
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