The Chinese military prepares to take part in the International Army Games along with 14 other nations.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the successful deployment of Chinese military personnel, along with tanks, artillery and other materiel in various regions of Russia. They are preparing to take part in the International Army Games along with 14 other nations.

The games are due to be held in the first fifteen days of August and encompass 13 different team competitions, of which The Tank Biathlon and Aviadarts aerobatics contests are the most prominent.

The International Army Games’ program includes an Open Water contest and a Safe Route engineering contest, where combat engineers will assist other units in passing thru different obstacles and barriers. Chief of the Russian Engineering Troops Lieutenant-General Yuri Stavitsky has announced plans to hold the Formula One-like competitions between military engineers in 2016, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported lately.

Besides China, army teams from India, Kuwait, Venezuela, Angola, Mongolia, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, the hosting nation Russia and other countries will take part. Last year China won the bronze medal in the Tank Biathlon, while Armenia took the silver and the Russian team earned gold.

According to Sunday’s Russian Ministry of Defense report, the People’s Liberation Army of China has taken along four Type-96 tanks with them this year to compete in the Tank Biathlon and four IFVs for another competition during the course of the Games.

Moreover, there are also various People’s Liberation Army artillery systems that will be used during the competitions, for example, 120-mm self-propelled mortar-howitzer system PLL-05 will compete in the “Masters of artillery fire” competition near Saratov in the Volga Region.

In total, there are 13 army teams from China participating in the Russia-hosted competitions this year. It took two weeks and 166 train cars were used for the transportation of all the personnel and materiel, as the statement on the Russian MoD website reads.

Besides armored vehicles and artillery, various all-terrain, engineering and reconnaissance vehicles, air-defense systems, tractor trucks, ponton boats, a heavy mechanized bridge and a maintenance shop have been brought.

Moreover, Chinese pilots will be competing in the Aviadarts contest in their own Russian-made Su-30MKK strike fighters.

Cooperation between the Russian and Chinese armed forces has been reportedly intensified in all areas, including culture. An exhibition will be opened of artwork by the Russian Grekov Military art studio in the Military Museum of Chinese People’s Revolution in Beijing this September. The exhibition is devoted to the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.