Since 2013, Russia has been holding an international tank biathlon where several countries like China, Kuwait, and several that have names ending in “stan” show up to test their mettle on a challenging course that requires them to cover the distance in the shortest amount of time while firing accurately and at great distance while on the fly. The USA’s invite got lost in the mail so we were not there to throw down against the likes of Armenia but there was a Kuwaiti tank crew there that made one heck of an impression on the assembled military brass. Those were the guys that managed to completely barrel roll their tank and nearly make it back over on the track again. We have no idea what it would be like to flip upside down in a tank, ending up on your side but we’re going to guess that it sucks pretty bad.
So how did they pull this off? Basically they came into a turn way, way hot and the driver was executing a pretty awesome drift when one of the massive tracks that power the tank caught an edge, dug in, and sent the thing for a nearly complete roll. If they had about 1mph ore momentum coming out of the barrel roll they would have flopped down onto their tracks again. As impressive as it is to see 90-tons of twisted steel and sex appeal doing this, it would have been even more boss to see it roll, land and drive off. You know one of these T-72s has done that before because for all the years they have been making them, the drivers have had access to vodka and we all know what that leads to,.
If you want to skip right to the rolling tank go to like 1:40 into the video. The beginning portion of the film shows what the competition is about and you get to see how the guys rolled their tank by watching how other teams came through this portion of the course. One team went way wide but another played it perfectly and then hit a fording ditch so deep that the tank appears to have died from water inhalation upon exiting the other side of it.
This is hardcore fun. I bet the USA shows up uninvited next year and just says that their invitation never showed up. We want in!
Press play below and watch to see how this 45-ton tank ended up on its side –
