International Army Games

"War Olympics" redirects here. For the effects of war on the Olympic Games, see Olympic Games § War and terrorism.

The International Army Games (Russian: Армейские международные) is an annual international military sports event organized by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Russia. The event, which was first staged in August 2015, involves close to 30 countries taking part in dozens of competitions over two weeks to prove which is the most skilled.^[1] The games have been referred to as the War Olympics.^[2] In addition to the competition, the International Army Games includes a military theme park, a recruitment station, and souvenir shops.^[3]

International Army Games
Армейские международные игры

Emblem of the games
First event	2015
Occur every	2 years
Last event	2022
Headquarters	Moscow
Organizer	Russian MoD

History

Participant countries of the 2019 International Army Games

• 2015 International Army Games: Took place in Russia from August 1–15.^[4]
• 2016 International Army Games: Took place from July 30 to August 13. 3,500 servicemen from 19 states fought in 23 competitions.^[5]
• 2017 International Army Games: Held from July 29 to August 12 in 5 countries: Russia, China, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. During the games 28 international competitions were held, including 5 new ones.
• 2018 International Army Games: Held from July 28 to August 11. The competitions were held in Armenia and Iran for the first time. Teams from Algeria, Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Sudan and the Philippines also took part in the games for the first time.^[6]
• 2019 International Army Games: Planned to be organized in 32 disciplines hosted in 10 countries starting on August 3 in Korla.^[7] Russia, India, China, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are the countries hosting it. India hosted and won Stage 2 of the games, known as the 5th International Army Scout Masters Competition. Uzbekistan came second and Russia fourth.^[8]
• 2020 International Army Games: Held from August 22 to September 5. Russia won the competition while Belarus was second and Uzbekistan was third.^[9][10]
• 2021 International Army Games: Held from August 22 to September 4, 2021.
• 2023–2024: Not held due to shortages stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[11][12] In 2023, Russian Deputy Minister of Defence Alexander Fomin stated the games would take place in even years.^[13]

Editions

^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]}

Year	Edition	Dates	Host Country	Events	Champion
2015	1		Russia	13	Russia[21]
2016	2		Russia	23	Russia[22]
2017	3		Russia	28
2018	4		Russia	28	Russia[23]
2019	5		Russia
2020	6		Russia	30	Russia[10]
2021	7		Russia		Russia[24]
2022	8		Russia	34

Competitions

• Tank biathlon
• Suvorov Attack ("Suvorov Onslaught"): competition between crews/specialists of infantry combat vehicles^[25]
• Aviadarts: competition for flight crews
• Masters of artillery fire: artillery calculation competition
• Clear skies: competition among anti-aircraft units
• Excellence troop intelligence: competition between intelligence departments
• Open water: competition among dispatching units
• Safe route: competition among engineering units
• Safe environment: radiation, chemical and biological defense forces' competition^[26]
• International Army Scout Masters' Competition^[27]

2020 events

^[28]

Hosts:

1. Russia
2. Iran
3. India
4. Mongolia
5. Kazakhstan
6. Uzbekistan
7. Armenia
8. Azerbaijan
9. Belarus
10. China

Events

1. Tank Biathlon = Tank Crews Competition
2. Suvorov Attack = IFV Crews Competition
3. Sniper Frontier = Snipers Competition
4. Aviadarts = Flight Crews Competition
5. Airborne Platoon = Airborne Forces Platoons Competition
6. Seaborne Assault = Naval Infantry Units Competition
7. Sea Cup = Combat Ship Crews Competition
8. Depth = Divers Multidiscipline Competition
9. Masters Of Artillery Fire = Mortar Battery Squads Competition
10. Gunsmith Master = Maintenance Platoons Competition
11. Clear Sky = Ad Units Competition
12. Confident Reception = Competition Of Anti-Aircraft Missile Troops Units
13. Army Scout Masters = Army Reconnaissance Units Competition
14. Open Water = Pontoon Bridge Crews Competition
15. Safe Route = Combat Engineering Units Competition
16. Engineering Formula = Engineering Units Competition
17. Safe Environment = NBC Reconnaissance Crews Competition
18. Masters Of Armored Vehicles = Armored Vehicles Crews Competition
19. Elbrus Ring = Mountain Infantry Units Competition
20. True Friend = Dog Handlers Competition
21. Military Medical Relay Race = Medical Staff Competition
22. Field Kitchen = Food Service Specialists Competition
23. Guardian Of Order = Military Police Competition
24. Military Rally = Armored Vehicles Crews Competition
25. Warrior Of Peace = International Competition Of Military-Professional Servicemen Skills
26. Falcon Hunting = Uavs' Crews Competition
27. Road Patrol = Military Police Officers Competition
28. Emergency Area = Competition Among Emergency Rescue Units
29. Equestrian Marathon = Competition Among Horse Mounted Units
30. Polar Star = Special Operation Units Competition

Participants

Note: O = Observer

For the first time, Bolivia and Rwanda participated in the 2022 Games.

Countries	Participated in
	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Russia (Host)
Abkhazia
Afghanistan
Algeria		O
Angola
Armenia
Austria		O
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Belarus
Bolivia
Brazil	O				O
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Cameroon
China
Cuba		O
Denmark			O
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eswatini
Finland			O
France					O
Germany		O	O
Greece
Guinea
India
Indonesia				O
Iran	O
Israel		O
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Mali
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar	O	O
Namibia		O
Netherlands			O
Nicaragua
North Korea			O
Pakistan
Palestine
Peru
Philippines
Qatar				O
Republic of Congo
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia		O
Serbia
Slovenia					O
South Africa
South Korea	O
South Ossetia
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Switzerland			O
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Turkey					O
Turkmenistan	O
Uganda
United States			O		O
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam	O
Yemen
Zimbabwe

Greece was the only NATO member state that has officially participated in the games. Since 2020, three largely-unrecognised countries have participated.

Russian groups in opening and closing ceremonies

Members of the ensemble during the closing ceremony of the International Army Games in 2020.

• Alexandrov Ensemble
• Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defense of Russia
• 154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment
• Belarusian Armed Forces Academic Song and Dance Ensemble

Gallery

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See also

• Sports portal

• World Military Championships
• World Military Cup
• Africa Military Games
• Invictus Games
• Military World Games
• World Police and Fire Games
• Exercise RIMPAC

References

1. Rebecca Wright; Oren Liebermann; Darya Tarasova; Mary Ilyushina (13 August 2017). "Russia's International Army Games showcase military might". CNN. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
2. "The Russian military is building a mini-Reichstag at its amusement park so that kids have 'a real building to storm". Washington Post. 22 February 2017. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
3. Galeotti, Mark (August 24, 2018). "The International Army Games are Decadent and Depraved". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
4. "Russia holds its first International Army Games". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
5. "Министры обороны стран-участниц АРМИ-2016 приехали на игры в Россию". 30 July 2016. Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
6. "What are Russia's International Army Games?". Newsweek. 28 July 2018. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
7. "China competitions for Int'l Army Games 2019 kicks off - Xinhua | English.news.cn". Archived from the original on August 3, 2019.
8. "Indian Army wins Scout Masters contest". The Hindu. 16 August 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
9. "International Army Games expected to highlight Russian-Chinese cooperation". Foreign Brief. 2020-08-22. Archived from the original on 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
10. "Participants of the International Army Games 2020 summed up the results and discussed the procedure for their holding in 2021 : Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation". eng.mil.ru. Archived from the original on 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
11. van Brugen, Isabel (April 28, 2023). "Russia Cancels Symbolic 'War Olympics' Over Tank Shortage: U.K." Newsweek. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
12. "British intelligence cited possible reasons for Russia's cancellation of the military games". The Odessa Journal. May 29, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
13. "В МО РФ сообщили, что АрМИ будут проводиться по четным годам с 2024 года" [The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Army Games will be held in even years from 2024]. Argumenty i Fakty. August 19, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
14. "Army Games International". armygames2020.mil.ru.
15. https://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country.htm?f=1&blk=10340619&id=9474@egClassification&ra=egNews&objInBlock=25 ^{[not specific enough to verify]}
16. "VIII International Army Games end today". eng.mil.ru. 27 August 2022.
17. "Int'l Army Games 2022 ends in Russia - China Military". Eng.chinamil.com.cn. 2022-08-27. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
18. "Army Games Vietnam 2022". armygames.vn. 30 June 2023.
19. http://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country.htm?f=1&blk=10340619&id=9474@egClassification&ra=egNews&objInBlock=25 ^{[not specific enough to verify]}
20. "VIII International Army Games end today". Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. 27 August 2022.
21. Gady, Franz-Stefan. "Russia Beats China in This Year's International Army Games". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
22. "Kazakhstan's Armed Forces Team Ranked Second at 2016 International Army Games". astanatimes. 20 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-09-10. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
23. "Closing Ceremony of the International Army Games 2018 to take place in Alabino". eng.mil.ru. Archived from the original on 2022-01-07. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
24. "International Army Games Winners of 16 competitions declared". aviation-defence-universe. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-01-07. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
25. "Regulations on the contest "Suvorov onslaught"" (PDF). Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
26. "Армейские игры-2019". armygames2019.mil.ru. Archived from the original on 2019-06-23. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
27. "Indian Army wins International Army Scout Masters competition". aninews.in. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
28. "Army Games International". armygames2020.mil.ru.

External links

• Media related to International military games at Wikimedia Commons
• https://interfiresport.com/
• https://interfiresport.com/activity/
• http://firefighterchallenge.com/
• https://www.firefighterchampionships.com/
• https://www.firefighterchampionships.com/?post_type=tribe_events
• https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/st-lucie-county/2021/10/04/fort-pierce-hosts-2021-firefighter-combat-challenge-world-championship-st-lucie-defends-title-espn/8418203002/