By Pan Zhen and Liu Yangting
MOSCOW, Aug. 26 -- On August 25, local time, the opening ceremony of the "Open Water" contest of the International Army Games 2020 (IAG-2020) was held on the Oka River in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. The ceremony characterized with unique features of the pontoon bridge troops and strong combat atmosphere has left a deep impression on the participants.
The opening ceremony began with the play of the Chinese and Russian national anthems, with the national flags of both countries rising progressively on the Oka River.
As the host, the Russian team took the lead to get on stage. Following the Russian pontoon bridge unit and the Chinese pontoon bridge unit passing through the viewing stand in turn, pontoon bridge equipment of diverse categories lined up and arrived at the assembly place crossing the river.
It is learned that based on the existing equipment of the pontoon bridge troops, the opening ceremony mainly focused on embodying the pontoon bridge troops’ professional characteristics of building bridges when blocked by a river. It has fully exhibited the content of the contest, highlighted the high morale of the participating troops, and tested the ability of participating troops in operating pontoon bridge equipment such as rubber boats, pontoon bridges, and motorboats in succession.