War Thunder

The ‘New Power’ update brings a new engine, next-gen consoles version, battleships, new aircraft carriers, VTOL aircraft and more

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the military online action War Thunder just got “New Power”, which is the biggest update in the history of the game, as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of War Thunder that fully utilize the next-gen consoles power. War Thunder has also switched to the Dagor 6.0 engine, thus significantly upgrading the game visuals on all platforms. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X players can enjoy the new look at a steady 4K@60FPS resolution, while the PC version supports DLSS technology for RTX graphics cards. The ‘New Power’ update also introduces battleships, VTOL aircraft and lots of other new military vehicles, i.e. the T-90A and Leclerc S2 tanks.

Visual enhancements are the first thing that players will notice in the updated game. The War Thunder engine simulates a natural-looking sky with clouds of various types, fog and the correct distribution and scattering of sunlight. The game now has the means to draw a realistic sunset on Mars or a nuclear bomb explosion if needed. Shot and explosion effects, as well as fires and vehicle destruction physics are also enhanced. Physically correct armour scars appear on ground vehicles in places where shells hit and in some cases the projectile can even get stuck in the armour.

War Thunder naval players will now have the chance to fight using battlecruisers and battleships – like the famous HMS Dreadnought that marked the beginning of a new era in military shipbuilding or the Imperatritsa Mariya (“Empress Maria”), which is one the dreadnought-class battleships built by the Russian Empire right on time for World War I. USA, Germany and Japan also got their own battleships. The update also changes the naval fleet progression system, allowing new players to skip torpedo boats and start with destroyers to get to the largest ships much faster.

Aircraft fans are getting VTOL machines in the Harrier and Yak-38 families. They are equipped with a thrust vectoring propulsion system. In flight, pilots can vary the thrust nozzles’ angle to alter the flight characteristics of the aircraft – for example to perform tighter turns. Additionally, pilots will be able to perform helicopter-style attack runs or avoid enemy detection at low altitude. War Thunder players are also getting aircraft carriers that are suitable for machines of this era, namely, HMS Ark Royal, USS Forrestal and the Soviet aircraft cruiser Baku.

T-90A tank is finally arriving in War Thunder. It’s most distinctive feature is the Shtora electro-optical jammer and laser/IR warning system. Two groups of Shtora sensors on the tank turret look like giant eyes – that’s how you can easily recognise the T-90A in photos. Other nations also get interesting examples of modern armoured vehicles, like the US M1128 Stryker MGS, German Leopard 2A6 and French Leclerc S2.

“New Power” update brings numerous new features, like the interactive hangar or illuminating shells. There is going to be a Battle Pass system as well, allowing players to get prizes for participating in battles and completing daily and seasonal tasks. Rewards include not only cosmetic items, but premium vehicles as well, i.e. US F2G jet and Soviet Т-10А tank. Reward vehicles can be added to a player’s hangar or sold to other players on the market.

The full list of updates is available at the official War Thunder website.

Battlecruisers and battleships, including HMS Dreadnought, will join the battle

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the next major Content Update will bring battlecruisers and battleships. The Blue-water fleet with destroyers, cruisers and battleships will become the fifth type of military hardware in War Thunder, along with ground vehicles, aircraft, helicopters and coastal fleet.

War Thunder naval battles began with clashes of light and fast coastal forces ships, like torpedo boats, gunships and submarine chasers. Other types of ships including frigates, destroyers and cruisers were added to War Thunder later. The “New Power” update will bring colossal battlecruisers and battleships boasting heavy armor and large calibre guns.

These large ships will include the British battleship Dreadnought (“Дредноут”), the German battleship Westfalen, the US heavy cruiser New Orleans and many other famous ships. Dreadnought is probably the most famous from the list. The construction of this battleship at the beginning of the 20th century made fleets from other nations obsolete because of two key features: an “all-big-gun” armament scheme, with an unprecedented number of heavy-calibre guns, and steam turbine propulsion. Other countries rushed to counter this threat with similar war machines and as a result a whole generation of battleships from that era was commonly referred to as “dreadnoughts”.

The gameplay experience was always quite different for small and large vessels and this difference will only increase when the battleships arrive in the game. This is why the fleet tech trees will be split into two separate trees – coastal fleet and blue-navy fleet with separate progression schemes. Players will be able to use any ships they’ve already unlocked and to train existing ship crews to use any other ships. This decision will allow newcomers that are interested only in larger ships to skip small vessels altogether, start with destroyers and get to cruisers and battleships faster, while the developers will get more freedom to choose the ships for the upcoming updates. War Thunder massive naval battles will still involve all types of vessels from both coastal and blue-navy fleets meaning that fast torpedo boats and gunboats will fight together with large ships and aircraft to achieve team victory.

More information on fleet restructuring in War Thunder is available at the official website.

Winners will get four new rare military vehicles, including the modern Merkava tank

Gaijin Entertainment announces the start of the “Strategist” event in the military online action War Thunder. Players collect toy soldiers and use them to attack enemy lines on the strategic map. Four new exclusive vehicles will serve as rewards: the Merkava Mk.3D main battle tank, a BI fighter interceptor, the Lübeck frigate and the Sd.Kfz.251/10 armoured vehicle. The event will last until October, 5th.

“Strategist” event players attack figurines that represent enemy armies, sabotage buildings, break through defensive lines and collect secret documents that can be exchanged for prizes. All resources and toy soldiers for the “Strategist” event can be obtained by playing classic War Thunder session battles.

The Merkava Mk.3D is a later modification of the well-known Israeli main battle tank that remained in production until 2003. It gained a new 120 mm smoothbore cannon, a better engine and new electronic equipment that includes thermal sights and a laser warning system.

Watch the trailer here.

The BI is the first Soviet rocket-powered aircraft, designed during WWII and envisioned to become a short-range defensive interceptor. The aircraft’s rocket propulsion allows it to get into the action fast, thanks to high acceleration, top speed and climb rate, but at the same time, prevents it from lingering in combat for too long due to its limited fuel supply of just 2 minutes with WEP mode. This aircraft didn’t take part in active combat, but the insights gained were later used for other projects during the Cold War.

Lübeck is a Köln-class frigate, built in the 1960’s and represents one of the first larger warships built by Germany after WW 2.

The Sd.Kfz.251/10 is a variant of the well-known and widely used German WW 2 halftrack, equipped with a 3.7cm anti-tank cannon for increased firepower.

The full description of the “Strategist” event and the prizes is available at the official War Thunder Website.

The key battle of the Arab–Israeli War will also be available to players

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the 3rd season of World War mode is coming to the military online action game War Thunder in a few weeks. In this mode some of the players will serve as commanders moving armies on the strategic map, whilst others will resolve the clashes of those armies in the form of classic War Thunder gameplay sessions. While the first two seasons reconstructed famous World War II battle scenarios with the relevant military hardware used, the new one will feature ground and air vehicles built in the second half of the 20th century – T-80 and Leopard 2 tanks, Mi-24 and Bo 105 helicopters, MiG-21 and F-104 fighter jets. The advanced weaponry will be used to recreate a hypothetical scenario of a key World War III battle and a famous tank battle from the Yom Kippur War.

During the Cold War, NATO strategists studied various scenarios of a potential 3rd World War. They thought that no matter what and how the conflict would start, the Soviet group of Forces in Germany would probably attack through the so-called Fulda Gap – a lowland area between the Hesse-Thuringian border and Frankfurt am Main. This is a perfect place to operate a large tank force that the Soviet Union thought to be its trump card in this hypothetical war. The Fulda Gap battle scenario in War Thunder places the Soviet army against the Western German army with Frankfurt am Main as the prize.

Fulda Map

The Yom Kippur War began in 1973 on October 6th, when a coalition of Arab states simultaneously attacked Israel. On October 17th the successful counter-offensive of Israeli forces brought them to the western bank of the Suez Canal in Egypt. The Arab armies tried to push them back and organized a massive attack near an agricultural research station that was marked as the “Chinese farm” on Israeli maps. The battle for this feature became the largest tank battle since World War II times. The Battle for Chinese Farm scenario in War Thunder will allow players to control either Arab forces armed with Soviet-made vehicles or Israel with a mix of American and French equipment.

More information on the new gameplay features in the new season – i.e. the role of the helicopter armies – and the dates when the battles will take place will be published on the official War Thunder website in the coming days.

The Italian navy tech tree and dozens of other military vehicles join the battle

Gaijin Entertainment announces the release of the “Starfighters” Content Update (Watch Video) for the military online action game War Thunder. The Italian Navy tech tree with 20+ torpedo boats, destroyers and cruisers is only the tip of the iceberg here, as the game is also getting dozens of other war machines, including the legendary F-104 Starfighter and the Mirage IIIC fighter jets. The cross-platform multiplayer feature has also been drastically improved by adding cross-console matchmaking. Finally all PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players will be able to play together with friends in all War Thunder modes no matter which platform each one of them is using.

The F-104 development started during the Korean war, the jet saw action in Vietnam as part of the US Air Force and was bought by the militaries of thirteen other countries. Two American and several international versions of this fighter are available in War Thunder right now. For example, the F-104A, the first production version of the Starfighter, is equipped with a six-barrel M61 Vulcan rotary cannon and can use two Sidewinder missiles. Later versions have a better engine and more weapon loadout options. These highly improved machines remained part of the Italian Air Force until 2004.

The French Mirage IIIC is another signature fighter jet of the same era and also the first European aircraft that managed to exceed speeds of Mach 2 in level flight. Furthermore, the Mirage IIIC in interceptor loadout has an extra SEPR 844 rocket engine generating additional thrust. The aircraft can carry a vast array of weapons, most notably a variety of AAM’s, as well as unguided rockets and bombs. Apart from French service, the Mirage IIIC also saw extensive use with the Israeli Air Force during the Six Day War as well as the Yom Kippur War of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Some of the Israeli Mirages were later on sold to Argentina, which in turn used its Mirages in the Falklands War of the 1980’s.

The update also features the first ground vehicle in War Thunder with a sophisticated radar detecting ground targets, which is 9P157 Khrizantema – the Soviet tank destroyer on a BMP-3 chassis. Having both radar and thermal sights allows Khrizantema to easily spot enemies and launch two anti-tank missiles at two different targets at the same time. Other interesting new vehicles are the modern Japanese Type 93 light SAM system mounted on an SUV-style chassis and a Bangladeshi Type 69-IIG main battle tank – basically a Chinese Type 69 modification with extra reactive armor and longer gun barrel.

With the new vehicles brought by the “Starfighters” Update, the total number of military vehicles in War Thunder now exceeds 1,700. The full list of changes in the Update is available on the official website.

More than 20 Italian torpedo boats, destroyers and cruisers will join the online battles

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the Italian Navy arrives to the military online action game War Thunder very soon. The game will get more than 20 signature Italian warships that served Italy in the 20th century. The testing of the Regia Marina tech tree will begin in a few weeks, with the release of the next major Content Update.

War Thunder players will get a chance to try a diverse range of warships, starting from small torpedo boats and gunships right up to the Trento heavy cruiser. Though the WW2 era Italian navy had some highly autonomous and seaworthy huge ships capable of projecting force in deep ocean waters, a significant part of the forces were meant to fight quite close to their bases. It’s no surprise that in the end, all the Italian naval victories happened in the Mediterranean sea and were either convoy attack or convoy defence missions. For example, MS class torpedo boats sank the British HMS Manchester cruiser and five other ships during Operation Pedestal near Malta. On another occasion, the Turbine-class Espero destroyer achieved fame when it’s crew sacrificed themselves to ensure that the other convoy ships delivered military supplies to Tobruk.

With the Content Update release, players will get access to the closed beta testing of the Italian Navy (or Regia Marina as it was named during the war) and unlock content by completing daily tasks within the game. Purchasing one of the two available pre order packs will give access to the entire Italian navy research in the tech tree right after the Update is available. One of the packs contains the P 420 Sparviero hydrofoil attack with a 76mm autocannon built at the beginning of 1970’s. The other pack is all about the 1942 version of Geniere destroyer with five 120 mm cannon and two triple torpedo launchers.

The Content Update will also feature ground, sea and air military vehicles for other countries that will be announced later. Follow the news at the official War Thunder website to get the latest information on this.

War Thunder developers reenacted the real Berlin Victory Parade to honor those who fought against evil 75 years ago

75 years ago, the world celebrated the end of World War II in Europe and one of the most important events of that days was the Berlin Victory Parade. In honor of the Victory anniversary, Gaijin Entertainment has created a virtual reenactment of the Berlin Victory Parade of 1945 inside War Thunder – an online game featuring hundreds of historically accurate military vehicles from that era and beyond. The video will be available on War Thunder’s YouTube channel today at 22:01 (UTC), precisely 75 years after the World War II in Europe ended.

The historical Berlin Victory Parade saw thousands of soldiers and officers from USSR, United States, United Kingdom and France marching together in the presence of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, General George S. Patton, General Brian Robertson and General Marie-Pierre Kœnig. It was one of the few moments in history when almost all of humanity stood united.

“75 years ago the whole world came together to celebrate defeating the ultimate evil. It’s important to remember this moment because nowadays the world needs to come together again to defeat a new common enemy that is attacking us all,” said Anton Yudintsev, founder of Gaijin Entertainment.

War Thunder’s version of the parade was made as close to the original as possible, with all military vehicles looking exactly as they were at that moment. The only major change is the air component of the parade that was absent at the real parade 75 years ago and was added to the virtual one in order to honor the pilots of Mustangs, Spitfires and Yak-9s who served in World War II.

A time-limited event called “Pentagon vs. Euro Forces vs. Minoboron” will be available this weekend

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the military online action game War Thunder will get a special event planned specifically for the peaceful combined training of US, European and Russian helicopter and ground vehicles crews. Modern Abrams and T-80U tanks, BMP-3 and Bradley APC’s, Mi-28 and Apache helicopters, as well as European vehicles like Leopards and Leclercs from the French, Italian, Swedish, German and UK armies will clash at the virtual battlefields this weekend. The designated training grounds will be Alaska, Finland, Middle East, Mozdoc and the Sea Terminal maps.

Anton Yudintsev, the founder of Gaijin Entertainment, said: “We read an article at the US Army website describing how the quarantined tank crews choose to use War Thunder as their preferred remote training tool. We decided to support this initiative and help all crews of modern tanks and helicopters to keep in good combat shape and boost the morale of soldiers, while safely staying at home to avoid the new coronavirus infection”.

The participants of the special event “Pentagon vs. Euro Forces vs. Minoboron” will choose one of three available sides, and all the relevant tanks, APC’s, helicopters and self-propelled anti-aircraft systems will be provided automatically without any need to unlock them in the game. While we hope that this initiative will be useful for the military personnel, any experienced War Thunder player will have access to this event – the only requirement is to have at least one rank V combat vehicle of the relevant countries.

The full description of the event is available at the official War Thunder website.

The ‘Viking Fury’ Update Brings Swedish Ground Forces and New Signature Vehicles for Other Nations

Gaijin Entertainment are announcing the release of the Viking Fury Content Update for the military online action game War Thunder. While the main theme of the Update is the testing of the Swedish ground forces tree, there are other cool toys to play with. The most important ones are the heavy cruiser HMS London, the J35 Draken jet fighter and several variants of the AH-64 Apache, the main attack helicopter of the US Army and one of the most famous military vehicles of our time.

The production of the AH-64 started in 1983. This helicopter was used in almost all military conflicts involving the US Army, including Panama, Iraq (twice), Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. It is also used by the military of 15 other nations like Greece, Singapore and Japan. War Thunder players will be able to try four variants of the Apache: the basic AH-64A, the upgraded AH-64D Apache Longbow, the British AH Mk.1 version and the Israeli Peten. The Update will also bring a Russian alternative to the Apache – the latest Ka-52 attack helicopter.

Swedish ground forces include both WW2 era vehicles and more recent ones, like the Pvrbv 551 – a tank destroyer equipped with TOW guided missiles, or VEAK 40 – a self-propelled anti-air gun with a sophisticated radar. The list of modern tanks from other nations has been extended with the ZTZ96A (the most common Chinese MBT nowadays), the Т-72B (a Т-72 variant from the 80’s with upgraded armor) and the Radkampfwagen 90 (experimental German wheeled tank).

Naval military history fans might want to try HMS London — a County-class British heavy cruiser designed and built in the interwar years around the restrictions imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty. Because of those restrictions, the ship has very light armour, but quite powerful armament: eight 8-inch (203mm) cannons, four dual 4-inch (102mm) dual-purpose cannons, two octuple and four single 40mm cannons, as well as eight dual and four single 20mm cannons. If that isn’t enough, HMS London is also outfitted with two quadruple 21-inch (533mm) torpedo launchers. HMS London took part in the famous pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck and defended the Arctic Convoys laden with military supplies for the Soviet Union, but her most fierce battle happened after the war, when the ship was engaged in a fight with Chinese artillery on the Yangtze River in 1949.

Watch the War Thunder Viking Fury Update trailer HERE.

Check the official War Thunder website for more information on the Viking Fury update.

Dozens of other famous vehicles will join the massive military online action game

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the Swedish ground vehicles will be the main theme of the next major Content Update “Viking Fury” for the the military online action game War Thunder, but there will be new ground, air and naval vehicles for other nations as well – more than 60 completely new war machines in total. For example, the Soviet navy will get the light cruiser Sverdlov commissioned right after World War II, while the US Air Force will get the Vietnam era Douglas A-4B Skyhawk jet.

Swedish tanks might not be as famous as the vehicles produced by the countries that actually participated in 20th century wars, but they have been developed with both neighbors’ combat experience and local landscape features in mind, leading to unique and very practical designs. With the next major update War Thunder players will be able to try out how these vehicles, ranging from the light pre-war models like Strv m/31 and Strv m/40L to the contemporary designs like Strf 90C, would manage against the ground vehicles of the larger tank-building powers. By the way, real Swedish tanks did have some combat experience. For example, the Santo Domingo rebels used the Strv m/40L tanks against US Army M48 Pattons, while various variants of the Strf 90 have been used by Sweden, Denmark and Norway in the ongoing Afghanistan war.

The Sverdlov was the first of the Soviet Project 68bis light cruisers that were built using all the accumulated World War II military experience gained. It boasted highly effective anti-air weapons, had good armor and great combat range. The Sverdlov was launched and carried out combat duties in the waters of the Baltic Sea and Atlantic Ocean until her lay-up in 1978. She never saw real action, but became famous when the Soviet delegation arrived in London aboard the Sverdlov for coronation of Elizabeth II amidst Cold War hostilities.

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a very cost-effective and easy to operate ground attack and fighter jet developed right after the Korean war. The A-4B’s primary armament consists of two 20mm Colt Mk.12 cannons, while the secondary ordnance options range from unguided rockets, such as the Mighty Mouse or Zunis, through guided missiles such as the Bullpups and Sidewinder air-to-air missile to standard unguided bombs as well as additional 20mm gunpods. Skyhawks saw action even after Vietnam, most importantly in the Falklands war (used by the Argentinian Air Force), and were based on the Brazilian aircraft carrier Sao Paulo until her decommissioning in 2018.

Follow the news at the official War Thunder website to find out more about the next content update that is scheduled to arrive in mid-March.