Military units around the world have taken the viral Tetris Challenge up a gear by jumping into the social media trend and laying bare their tanks and troops.

The whole concept kicked off a month ago, with a Zurich traffic police post on Facebook showing what goes into one patrol car, and other first responders were quick to jump on board with the ‘challenge’, from firefighters to sea rescue squads. But in a ‘hold my beer’ move, the most impressive photos by far were posted when the military got involved.

Not to be outdone by civilian units, troops presented some seriously impressive flatlays showcasing their military might, and here are the best of them:

1. This Dutch tank crew gave some striking insight into just what can be packed into one of their mobile machines with their challenge photo:

2. Swiftly following suit, the Royal Malaysian Navy laid out the contents and crew of one of its Super Lynx choppers, while the country’s Air Force showed off a fighter jet.

Tetris/ Unbox Challenge by 501 Squadron, Royal Malaysian Navy Super Lynx Helicopter. Visit us during Hari Terbuka ATM on 28 and 29th Sep at Lumut Naval Base. @MPA_Barat@RMN_Airwing@Sqn502FENNEC@SaimonShampic.twitter.com/popLAEVIza — SKN 501 (@Skn501) September 23, 2019 "Poise!!! Want to see what we could do? Join the Royal Malaysian Air Force - World Class Air Force"See you guys at Karnival Hari ATM Jeti Operasi TLDM Lumut Perak28-29 Sep 19 pic.twitter.com/iJ5NMWrXJw — TUDM (@airforcenextgen) September 26, 2019

3. This was the Hungarian Air Force’s answer to the viral challenge, shared with the casual but confident hashtag #SorryWeAreTheBest.

4. An Air Force base in North Dakota shared a TetrisChallenge photo complete with a mock price tag.

Limited edition! Order now for $1,245,000.00! pic.twitter.com/e9vEjks4mr — Minot Air Force Base (@TeamMinot) September 25, 2019

5. Not to be outdone by their fellow military men, this Austrian tank division laid out a crew and their equipment - or some of it, at least.

Das Panzerbataillon 14 aus Wels nimmt die #tetrischallenge an. Aber das ist erst der 1. Teil. 😉 #Bundesheerpic.twitter.com/FQ5TFEPIO2 — Michael Bauer (@Bundesheerbauer) September 26, 2019

As some people have pointed out, yes, this is essentially a classic gear inspection - with added hashtags. While social media users have, for the most part, enjoyed seeing all of that high-tech kit laid out, some have suspected it’s a “Chinese plot” to trick other armies into showing exactly what equipment they carry, and one commenter even found it to be one of the “most unsettling things” they’d ever seen.

The challenge has ballooned in popularity such that even Russian cats and hockey teams have joined in.

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