From 6am GMT March 29th (10pm PST March 28th) to

6am GMT March 31rd (10pm PST March 30th)

х4 RP for gain for the first victory of the day for all nations

Destroy 200/100/50 ground targets with rockets in Arcade/Realistic/Simulator battles respectively

Complete this special weekend mission and earn 150.000 silver lions!

Nelson Stepanyan, Soviet Armenian, Sturmovik pilot, twice hero of the Soviet Union was born on March 28th 1913 in Shushi Elisabethpol Governorate. He graduated from the Transcaucasian Preparatory Military School in 1930 and moved to the Bataysk Military Aviation School where he graduated in 1935 and stayed in the school as an instructor pilot until 1938.

From 1939 to 1941 he was an instructor pilot in the town of Mineralnie Vody flying and training pilots for the Civil Air Fleet. He flew a lot carrying people and cargo. At that time technical problems and small “incidents” were common, Nelson was awarded a special medal for the distance he had flown, it had the number 300,000 on it. It was amazing that he managed to fly so many kilometers without an accident. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 Nelson volunteered for combat and during the course of his career, flew the Il-2 Sturmovik, legendary flying tank.

Read more here!

Dear friends! After the long marathon in which 310 teams started, there are only two pairs out of the best teams from Simulator and Realistic battles who have reached the final straight! In the semifinal matches they will start their fight for the prize awarding places of the tournament with the total prize cost being more than 28.000 US dollars!

General Sponsor of the tournament MSI

Previously we had the quarter final matches which stood out by their consistent struggle. In the -313- CZ+SK versus B.M.P.E.Russia and [MFS](NightHawks) Russia versus Sky VeteransWing 1 International matches at the end of the rounds the score was 3:3 and everything was decided in the additional round. Aerial battles kept both participants and the viewers on their toes right until the final shots in every round of the quarterfinal stage were fired.

Read more Here
http://warthunder.com/en/news/507-Gladiators.WT-4x4-Semifinal-en

Gaijin Entertainment is taking War Thunder on the road this weekend at Rezzed in Birmingham, UK to show off the closed beta of Ground Forces.

Anticipating launch of open beta for Ground Forces later this Spring, Gaijin is unveiling the closed beta to the press and public this weekend and will also be showing War Thunder on Playstation®4. Experience high adrenaline aerial battles and now tanks in the Ground Forces closed beta this weekend at Rezzed, a video games event, dedicated to PC, indie and console gaming, brought to you by the team behind EGX London!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ituz4PyB17o

Dear players!

Starting from 08:00 GMT March the 28th live streaming of CBT gameplay is allowed.

From 16:00 GMT (8:00 PST) March 26th
to 16:00 GMT (8:00 PST) March 27th
30% discount for purchase of "Pacific" Advanced Pack

Participate in the "Iwo Jima" special event in War Thunder - available via the "Events" tab.

The first day of the American landings was on February 19th, 1945. The Marines suffered heavy casualties as they reached the beach, the American bombings arranged previously, had not been effective. What it had done was to churn up the beaches and the immediate scrubland which gave the Japanese a good opportunity to prepare and discover hiding holes and camouflage for snipers. It also hindered the American movement inland as the area had been so heavily bombed it was poor going, pot holed and shell cratered. The well placed Japanese snipers held up the American advance for some considerable time.

Iwo Jima proved a difficult, costly and bloody target to take – too often the Americans only managed to gain several hundred metres a day. However, by March the 11th, the Japanese were trapped in an area around Kitano Point, the island’s most northerly point. By March the 16th, the island was declared secure and all Japanese resistance had ceased by March the 26th. It was a gruesome and horrific battle on both sides, a battle that would haunt the combatants all their life.

Read more here!
http://warthunder.com/en/news/505-Defending-their-homeland---The-end-on-Iwo-Jima-en

From 14:00 GMT (6:00 PST) March 25th

to 14:00 GMT (6:00 PST) March 26th

30% discount for purchase and repair of dive bombers

Ju 87 R-2, Ju 87 B-2, Ju 87 D-3, Ju 87D-5, Ju 88 A-4, D3A1,

SBD-3 Dauntless, Ar-2, Pe-2-1, Pe-2-21, Pe-2-83, Pe-2-110, Pe-2-359

Dive bombing had been experimented with on offensive operations as early as the First World War. The concept was simple – the forward movement of any bombing platform would have a pronounced effect on any bombs dropped, resulting in a forward movement of the bomb rather than a simple vertical drop. This in turn led to problems with accuracy and the requirement for specialist bombsights to try to calculate a large number of variables involved. In theory, if an aircraft were to dive vertically down on top of a target, most of these variables would be eliminated, leading to far greater accuracy. However, the control response needed to actually pull out of the dive meant that particularly heavy aircraft were not able to attempt this maneuver. Furthermore, the stresses on the aircraft on pulling out of the dive were considerable enough to require strengthening of the airframe, resulting in the need for specialized design and manufacture to guarantee a good combination of safety and accuracy. Also, as heavier aircraft with large bomb loads were not suited to this role, the accuracy which came with dive bombing also brought the penalty of a smaller bomb load – hence, dive bombing was very much a precision attack against selected targets rather than a strategic attack. The faith placed in the accuracy of dive bombing was of note: Luftwaffe dive bomber pilots were expected to drop half of their bombs within 25 metres of the aim point. This meant that small, hard targets such as tanks were far more difficult to destroy than softer targets such as trucks, which would be eliminated by a near miss.

Read more here!
http://warthunder.com/en/news/503-Dive-Bombing-en

Dear players!

We continue new video series under the project: “This Is War Thunder - Top 5 Epic Plays of the Week” with PhlyDaily as our host! This is not only your chance to showcase the most amazing moments of your game play with everyone, but it is also a chance to win Golden Eagles in the process! The show will be aired weekly with five videos being showcased and five players being rewarded for their awesome plays:

First place – 3000 golden eagles
Second place – 2000 golden eagles
Third, Fourth and Fifth places – 1000 golden eagles each

You can submit your videos by sending youtube links of your game play (quality must be 720p or higher) or a replay file with description of the moment at the top5@warthunder.com

Here goes episode 7 of top 5 epic plays

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WXXcAKk96HU

“This is War Thunder!”

Record your epic Game Play videos, create awesome gifs and glorious screenshots – share them with your friends on facebook and twitter using hash-tag #ThisisWarThunder.
The most epic creations will have the chance to be featured on our website!

Dear players!

We continue new video series under the project: “This Is War Thunder - Top 5 Epic Plays of the Week” with PhlyDaily as our host! This is not only your chance to showcase the most amazing moments of your game play with everyone, but it is also a chance to win Golden Eagles in the process! The show will be aired weekly with five videos being showcased and five players being rewarded for their awesome plays:

First place – 3000 golden eagles
Second place – 2000 golden eagles
Third, Fourth and Fifth places – 1000 golden eagles each

You can submit your videos by sending youtube links of your game play (quality must be 720p or higher) or a replay file with description of the moment at the top5@warthunder.com

Here goes episode 7 of top 5 epic plays

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WXXcAKk96HU

“This is War Thunder!”

Record your epic Game Play videos, create awesome gifs and glorious screenshots – share them with your friends on facebook and twitter using hash-tag #ThisisWarThunder.
The most epic creations will have the chance to be featured on our website!

From March 24th 15:00 GMT until March 25th 15:00 GMT

20% discount for following aircraft: B-17E Late, B-24, Wellington Mk.III, Lancaster Mk.III

Event [Operation] "Ruhr"

Operation Plunder was a World War II military operation in which the Allied forces crossed the Rhine River at Wesel, Rees, and at a point located south of the Lippe River, establishing a bridgehead on the east bank of the Rhine.

Operation started on the night of 23 March 1945, by the British 2nd Army, commanded by Sir Miles Dempsey, and the US 9th Army, under the command of Lieutenant General William Simpson.
The overture for the operation started at 15:00 with a 4000 cannon barrage and a massive smoke screen, while British aircraft were pounding ground targets during the day and night of 23rd of March. At 21:00 hours, the British 51st Highland Infantry Division (2nd Army) followed by 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the 15th Scottish Division initiated the landing.


Although at first there was no real opposition but as the night wore on they run into fierce resistance, but after violent fighting the 1st Commando Brigade managed to enter the Wesel and establishing a foothold on the other side of the Rhine. The US 30th Division (9th Army) and the US 79th Division managed to land south of Wesel without major difficulties. By the evening of March 24th, the US forces had already built a pontoon bridge across the river.

Together with operation Plunder, the allies started operation Varsity on on March 24th with the aim to disrupt enemy communications. It was carried out by the British 6th Airborne Division and US 17th Airborne Division who were in charge of capturing the towns of Schnappenberg and Hamminkeln, clear part of the Diersfordter Wald of German forces, and secure three bridges over the Issel River.

On 24th March, Churchill crossed the Rhine River in an LCM (landing craft, mechanized), setting foot on the eastern bank of the river, symbolizing the crossing of the top British political leader over the traditional border of Germany that no foreign army had crossed in 140 years.