Irish rookies beat the United States Army in IFV at the Tank Olympics

The United States Army is the most powerful in the world and one of the best trained, but sometimes unexpected things happen.

Images of the Irish Naval Service and the Spanish Navy together in the Irish Sea
C295W MSA, the Spanish surveillance plane that guards the coasts and waters of Ireland

From April 30 to May 9, the United States Army military base at Fort Benning, Georgia, hosted this year's edition of the Sullivan Cup International Best Armored Team Competition, also known as the Tank Olympics.

This competition has been held every two years since 2012 and its name refers to General Gordon R. Sullivan (1937-2024), who was the 32nd Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and served for 36 years, especially in armored units.

The Sullivan Cup has two categories: tanks and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), which are the main shock forces of armored units.

All tank teams competed with the M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams, one of the most modern variants of this American armored vehicle. Likewise, all IFV teams competed with the M2A3 Bradley (above), the tracked infantry fighting vehicle currently used by the US Army.

This year's edition brought together 15 teams: 8 tank teams and 7 IFV teams. The vast majority of the teams came from US Army units, which have an advantage in this competition, as they have a lot of experience using Abrams tanks and Bradley IFVs.

This year there were only three foreign teams: two in the tank category (one from the British Army and one from the Polish Army) and one in the IFV category (from the Irish Army).

Poland has Abrams tanks, both the M1A1 FEP and M1A2 SEPv3 versions, giving them a slight advantage. The British Army has Challenger 2 tanks, similar to the Abrams, so they didn't face a significant challenge either. The team that was clearly at a disadvantage was Ireland. The Irish Army doesn't even have tracked infantry fighting vehicles. Their heaviest armored vehicles are the Mowag Piranha IIIH, an 8x8 wheeled vehicle. The Irish Army has personnel carrier, command, reconnaissance, recovery, and ambulance versions of this vehicle, but no IFVs.

The Irish team belonged to the Irish Cavalry Corps. A few days ago, the Irish Defence Forces pointed out the disadvantage their soldiers faced: "Our team had a two week window to train up in theatre on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle having never used the platform before."

The Irish Defence Forces stated: "The competition consisted of gunnery live fire lanes by day and night, vehicle maintenance, crew knowledge, call for fire, AFV recognition, medical lanes and physical fitness challenges." Thus, not all tests involved the use of armored vehicles, and the soldiers' prior preparation also gave them a chance of winning.

The US Army has far more combat experience than the Irish Army. Ireland is a neutral country. It is not a member of NATO, and its only overseas military missions are conducted under the auspices of the European Union and UN Peacekeeping Forces. The Irish Army has approximately 6,300 soldiers, while the US Army has over 447,000 soldiers.

"The day began early with the final charge. The last event of the competition consisted of a 3.2-kilometer run before completing a series of tests, including an artillery firing call, a medical test, and a demonstration of their proficiency with the M240B GPMG. The team fought hard and gave their all, achieving second place in the final charge. This concluded the competition, leaving several hours of high tension awaiting the final results," the Irish Cavalry Corps noted on May 8th.

"At approximately 1130hrs in the Marshall Auditorium, US Army Manouvre Centre of Excellence, Fort Benning, Georgia, after only two weeks training on the platform, Team Ireland were crowned champions of the 2026 Sullivan Cup. This competition saw Team Ireland compete against the best crews in the world and ultimately emerge victorious," the Irish Cavalry Corps commented on its Facebook page. It was a victory against all odds, defying the statistics. The Irish VCI team beat their six American rivals by a few points: 699 to 694 for the runner-up, the 155th Armored Brigade of the Mississippi National Guard.

In the tank category, the winner was the team from the US Army's 4th Infantry Division, with 811 points, followed by the Polish team from the 1st Armored Brigade Warsaw "Tadeusz Kosciuszko", which achieved 699 points, the same as the Irish team in the IFV category. You can see a video summary of this competition here, published this afternoon by the US Army, in which, curiously, the only foreign participation shown (for a few seconds) is Polish soldiers reloading bullets into pistol magazines:

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Photos: Óglaigh na hÉireann / U.S. Army / Defence Forces Cavalry Corps.