Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss army takes part in international tank competition

Swiss army takes part in international tank competition
The tank competition, which has been running since 2016, is open to NATO member states and their partners, the Swiss army said on Tuesday. Keystone-SDA

Around 20 Swiss army personnel and two Leopard 2 tanks are taking part in an international tank competition in Grafenwöhr, Germany, this week. The aim is to strengthen defence capabilities via exchanges with friendly countries.

 Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The competition, which has been running since 2016, is open to NATO member states and their partners, the Swiss army said in a statement on Tuesday.

The event is organised by the United States and Denmark and brings together 16 tank crews to compete in disciplines such as offensive and defensive day and night combat shooting, emergency shooting, vehicle identification, distance estimation, medical evacuation, curved trajectory shooting, pistol shooting and sport.

More

The Swiss team is made up of militia soldiers, supported by regulars and army logistics staff. In addition to the two 87 Leopard 2 tanks, the team will be supported by a third identical tank, which will serve as a reserve, as well as a Büffel recovery tank and logistics resources.

More

The army says the competition gives it the opportunity to directly compare levels of training and engagement procedures with those of its international partners.

It can also gain experience in international military cooperation and test the interoperability of its armoured troops in the field.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Population has named two newly discovered Swiss fish

More

Swiss public names two newly discovered fish

This content was published on Two fish species recently discovered in Switzerland have been called fluvicola and ommata, following an appeal to the public for names.

Read more: Swiss public names two newly discovered fish

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR