ALABINO RANGE, July 31. /TASS/. The first Russian crew has set an all-time speed and accuracy shooting record at the Tank Biathlon, Chief Judge of the 2017 International Army Games, Major General Dmitry Gorbatenko, said.

"To date, it is the first Russian crew in the tank biathlon that demonstrated the best result, which turned out to be in fact the absolute all-time record for the tank crews’ competition on this course," Gorbatenko emphasized.

The Chinese team showed the best result in last year’s individual race, he said: the tank crew finished in 21mins 3 secs, having missed one of the targets.

The first Russian crew that performed at this year’s competition set the best time: 19mins 10secs without a single target miss. Russia’s best performance last year was 23mins 18 secs with one target miss.

According to Tank Biathlon’s Chief Judge Roman Binyukov, Russia took first place based on the results of the two-day race, followed by the Chinese and Belarusian teams. An individual race for the second crews starts today, he said.

Intrigue in Alabino

Gorbatenko also foresees a fierce battle in the tank biathlon between the competition’s leaders. He noted that the Russian and Chinese crews had performed the shooting competition ideally, having hit all targets. "And we hope to see more of a keen competitive struggle in Alabino," he said.

As he put it, we can speak now of an intrigue formed before the second crews’ race.

According to Binyukov, almost all teams improved their results by two to three minutes, compared to last year. "We’ll be expecting a strong performance from our Chinese friends. The crews are very well prepared," he concluded.

Russia leads in military intelligence contest

Russia is leading in the military intelligence contest of the 2017 International Army Games that is being held in Novosibirsk, followed by Uzbekistan’s military, who are taking part in the contest for the first time, and Belarus, the competition’s chief judge Major General Vladimir Marusin said on Monday.

"We are completing the first stage - landing and forced marching. Uzbekistan’s unit has set a very good result," Marusin told reporters via a video conference. The Russian intelligence officers rank first, followed by Uzbekistan (second), Belarus (third) and China (fourth), he said.

Colonel Shukhrat Ikramov, who commands Uzbekistan’s unit, said that the military found most trouble not with the buildings, but with Siberia’s severe environmental conditions that differ a lot from the Uzbek environment. "Thanks to the participation in the contest we are an integral part of the military intelligence community, and that is very important to us," Ikramov said. He thanked the Russian Defense Ministry for the warm welcome and the high-level organization of the competition.

At the first stage of the contest, the Russian and foreign intelligence units landed from the Mi-8 helicopter fully crewed, equipped and camouflaged and entered the designated rally point while holding their formation in the conditions of a possible encounter with the "enemy." The intelligence officers then carried out a 15km forced march without any orientation devices and captured the "enemy."

Servicemen from Armenia, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan are taking part in the contest dubbed "Best Military Intelligence."

The 2017 International Army Games are being held at 22 ranges in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and China from July 29 to August 12, with 28 countries participating.