NOVOSIBIRSK, August 3. /TASS/. The Russian team has won the most difficult phase of an international contest of military reconnaissance teams underway in Novosibirsk. The contest is part of the International Army Games, the Russian Defense Ministry’s press-center told TASS on Thursday.
"The Russian team showed the best result in the phase called Scout Trail. It coped with the obstacle course in 38 minutes 47 seconds. China was the runner-up with 39 minutes and 32 seconds. Uzbekistan clocked 39 minutes 44 seconds to place third," the source said.
After three phases of the competition the Russian, Chinese and Uzbek teams are in the lead on the aggregate.
The Scout Trail course consists of 22 obstacles. It is the most difficult stage of the competition. If the points scored are equal, the team that performed better in the Scout Trail event enjoys priority.
Taking part in the field reconnaissance contest are teams from Armenia, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, China, Russia and Uzbekistan. The team’s commanders said they were pretty happy with the performance of their subordinates.
"At the initial stage of the context, while adjusting to the local climate and forest terrain, we did have problems, but we promptly got accustomed and now successfully cope with our tasks. Our team consists of career military specialists who had made thorough preparations," the chief of Uzbekistan’s team, Colonel Shukhrat Ikramov, told the media.
The head of Zimbabwe’s team Major Justin Zhou said climate and weather certainly affected the performance of his men, who managed to outplay only Armenian participants. He said conditions in Africa were very different.
"But it is like a game of chess. There are certain rules. We are just in the process of learning these rules. We make mistakes, of course. But we try not to compare ourselves with the other teams. We keep learning," Zhou said.