It's difficult to imagine an aircraft of the Second World War that exceeds the size of the American B-29 Superfortress strategic bomber or the Japanese H6K Crocodile. But now we have a new record-breaker!

The German super-heavy BV 238 flying boat, made by the Blohm und Voss company, is one of the largest aircraft of the 20th century ever to be given shape in metal. Work on designing the giant began in 1940. Its engineers intended it to become a four-engine transport plane. However, Germany's tricky military situation forced changes in the project – the mighty 1,000 horse-power Jumo engines never reached the aircraft builders, who were ordered to repurpose the craft for military needs. The aircraft was put into testing in 1944, and its sheer size blotted out the sky – the six-engined giant was almost 13 meters tall, with a wingspan of 60 meters and a weight of 55 tons. This miracle of engineering was intended to serve the German military as a long-range sea scout, a transport or landing aircraft, a torpedo carrier and, of course, a bomber – the BV 238's weight when overloaded exceeds 94 tons!





This aerial giant's life turned out to be quite short. The only completed plane took several test flights without armament or a bomb complement, before going down to fire from American Mustangs while berthed at the Schaalsee lake in Germany in the spring of 1944. Two more completed prototypes were scrapped due to the project's cancellation – things were going very poorly for the German army and manufacturing industry at this point. So ended the story of the largest aircraft of the Axis powers in the Second World War, and the heaviest aircraft of its time... But today the BV 238 receives a new lease of life – in the War Thunder game universe!

Read the full Dev Blog on the Official War Thunder Forums!

It's difficult to imagine an aircraft of the Second World War that exceeds the size of the American B-29 Superfortress strategic bomber or the Japanese H6K Crocodile. But now we have a new record-breaker!

The German super-heavy BV 238 flying boat, made by the Blohm und Voss company, is one of the largest aircraft of the 20th century ever to be given shape in metal. Work on designing the giant began in 1940. Its engineers intended it to become a four-engine transport plane. However, Germany's tricky military situation forced changes in the project – the mighty 1,000 horse-power Jumo engines never reached the aircraft builders, who were ordered to repurpose the craft for military needs. The aircraft was put into testing in 1944, and its sheer size blotted out the sky – the six-engined giant was almost 13 meters tall, with a wingspan of 60 meters and a weight of 55 tons. This miracle of engineering was intended to serve the German military as a long-range sea scout, a transport or landing aircraft, a torpedo carrier and, of course, a bomber – the BV 238's weight when overloaded exceeds 94 tons!





This aerial giant's life turned out to be quite short. The only completed plane took several test flights without armament or a bomb complement, before going down to fire from American Mustangs while berthed at the Schaalsee lake in Germany in the spring of 1944. Two more completed prototypes were scrapped due to the project's cancellation – things were going very poorly for the German army and manufacturing industry at this point. So ended the story of the largest aircraft of the Axis powers in the Second World War, and the heaviest aircraft of its time... But today the BV 238 receives a new lease of life – in the War Thunder game universe!

Read the full Dev Blog on the Official War Thunder Forums!

It's difficult to imagine an aircraft of the Second World War that exceeds the size of the American B-29 Superfortress strategic bomber or the Japanese H6K Crocodile. But now we have a new record-breaker!

The German super-heavy BV 238 flying boat, made by the Blohm und Voss company, is one of the largest aircraft of the 20th century ever to be given shape in metal. Work on designing the giant began in 1940. Its engineers intended it to become a four-engine transport plane. However, Germany's tricky military situation forced changes in the project – the mighty 1,000 horse-power Jumo engines never reached the aircraft builders, who were ordered to repurpose the craft for military needs. The aircraft was put into testing in 1944, and its sheer size blotted out the sky – the six-engined giant was almost 13 meters tall, with a wingspan of 60 meters and a weight of 55 tons. This miracle of engineering was intended to serve the German military as a long-range sea scout, a transport or landing aircraft, a torpedo carrier and, of course, a bomber – the BV 238's weight when overloaded exceeds 94 tons!





This aerial giant's life turned out to be quite short. The only completed plane took several test flights without armament or a bomb complement, before going down to fire from American Mustangs while berthed at the Schaalsee lake in Germany in the spring of 1944. Two more completed prototypes were scrapped due to the project's cancellation – things were going very poorly for the German army and manufacturing industry at this point. So ended the story of the largest aircraft of the Axis powers in the Second World War, and the heaviest aircraft of its time... But today the BV 238 receives a new lease of life – in the War Thunder game universe!

Read the full Dev Blog on the Official War Thunder Forums!

As the jet age of aviation arrived, it immediately became clear that previous anti-air guns were incapable of countering jet-powered aircraft. Various countries began to design self-propelled anti-air defense systems capable of detecting, firing on and destroying fast-moving targets at various heights. In War Thunder 1.63 Desert Hunters, we're introducing some of the most famous self-propelled anti-air guns of the post-war era. We've already told you about the American M163 Vulcan. Next in line is the legendary Soviet ZSU-23-4 Shilka anti-air gun!





Named after a river in the Far East, the Shilka was the first series-produced anti-air artillery system with liquid-cooled guns. Before the 1960s, all Russian anti-air systems had air-cooled guns, and this had a pronounced negative influence on their firing rate. Designed based on the ASU-85 already so familiar to our players, the Shilka had an armored turret housing four liquid-cooled 23 mm autocannons, allowing the vehicle to direct a true river of fire toward the enemy – up to 3,400 shots per minute!

Read the full Dev Blog here!

As the jet age of aviation arrived, it immediately became clear that previous anti-air guns were incapable of countering jet-powered aircraft. Various countries began to design self-propelled anti-air defense systems capable of detecting, firing on and destroying fast-moving targets at various heights. In War Thunder 1.63 Desert Hunters, we're introducing some of the most famous self-propelled anti-air guns of the post-war era. We've already told you about the American M163 Vulcan. Next in line is the legendary Soviet ZSU-23-4 Shilka anti-air gun!





Named after a river in the Far East, the Shilka was the first series-produced anti-air artillery system with liquid-cooled guns. Before the 1960s, all Russian anti-air systems had air-cooled guns, and this had a pronounced negative influence on their firing rate. Designed based on the ASU-85 already so familiar to our players, the Shilka had an armored turret housing four liquid-cooled 23 mm autocannons, allowing the vehicle to direct a true river of fire toward the enemy – up to 3,400 shots per minute!

Read the full Dev Blog here!

When you hear "Cougar" you imagine a predatory animal - a mountain lion, puma, panther or wildcat. From now on, the first thing you think about will be the brand new US Navy jet fighter for War Thunder!

The F9F Cougar was a natural evolution for the F9F Panther, the well-known US Navy jet fighter. Developed in 1952, the aircraft's main difference to its predecessor was the shape of the wings: the Panther had straight wings while Cougar's airframe was equipped with swept ones.





The F9F-8 is a version of the machine on which work began in 1953, the main purpose of this modification was to improve the characteristics of the airplane, reducing the stall speed and an increase in operational range. These objectives were achieved mainly by increasing the wing surface and by a slight lengthening of the fuselage. The project was developed to fight against the MiG-15, however the aircraft had not yet made its debut during the conflict in Korea and lost its chance to go head to head with a Soviet jet.

For more images, information, and even video of this aircraft, be sure to view the full announcement in the Official War Thunder Forums!

When you hear "Cougar" you imagine a predatory animal - a mountain lion, puma, panther or wildcat. From now on, the first thing you think about will be the brand new US Navy jet fighter for War Thunder!

The F9F Cougar was a natural evolution for the F9F Panther, the well-known US Navy jet fighter. Developed in 1952, the aircraft's main difference to its predecessor was the shape of the wings: the Panther had straight wings while Cougar's airframe was equipped with swept ones.





The F9F-8 is a version of the machine on which work began in 1953, the main purpose of this modification was to improve the characteristics of the airplane, reducing the stall speed and an increase in operational range. These objectives were achieved mainly by increasing the wing surface and by a slight lengthening of the fuselage. The project was developed to fight against the MiG-15, however the aircraft had not yet made its debut during the conflict in Korea and lost its chance to go head to head with a Soviet jet.

For more images, information, and even video of this aircraft, be sure to view the full announcement in the Official War Thunder Forums!

With a stabilized cannon, add-on armour and an additional machine gun,
the Leopard A1A1 will become the new crown jewel among the German post-war vehicles. Panzer – Hurrah!

By 1975, the first independent tank design from post-war Germany had already seen numerous improvements since the first production batch (or ‘Baulos’ in German) was produced by Krauss-Maffei AG in 1965. West German engineers, well-aware that their country would be the first to fight if the Cold War ever turned hot, were under an immense pressure to keep up with the rapid development in tank technology displayed by the nations of the Warsaw Pact. Thus, with each subsequent ‘Baulos’ of the Leopard 1 approved for production, they added as many potentially beneficial technologies as possible to the design, without compromising the vehicle’s core concept.





As a result of this approach, in 1975 the German Bundeswehr operated a total of four different base model of the Leopard 1, ranging from versions A1 through to A4. Many of the improvements in comparison to the previous base model were minor, but others quite significantly increased the combat capacity of the Leopard 1 in different situations and circumstances. To ensure that all production batches could play an efficient role even against the most modern tanks of the Eastern Bloc, German engineers developed a standardized system of modernization for existing models, labelled the ‘Kampfwertsteigerung’ (lit. ‘combat value improvement’).

For more images and even video of this vehicle, be sure to check out the full Dev Blog Article on the Official War Thunder Forums!

With a stabilized cannon, add-on armour and an additional machine gun,
the Leopard A1A1 will become the new crown jewel among the German post-war vehicles. Panzer – Hurrah!

By 1975, the first independent tank design from post-war Germany had already seen numerous improvements since the first production batch (or ‘Baulos’ in German) was produced by Krauss-Maffei AG in 1965. West German engineers, well-aware that their country would be the first to fight if the Cold War ever turned hot, were under an immense pressure to keep up with the rapid development in tank technology displayed by the nations of the Warsaw Pact. Thus, with each subsequent ‘Baulos’ of the Leopard 1 approved for production, they added as many potentially beneficial technologies as possible to the design, without compromising the vehicle’s core concept.





As a result of this approach, in 1975 the German Bundeswehr operated a total of four different base model of the Leopard 1, ranging from versions A1 through to A4. Many of the improvements in comparison to the previous base model were minor, but others quite significantly increased the combat capacity of the Leopard 1 in different situations and circumstances. To ensure that all production batches could play an efficient role even against the most modern tanks of the Eastern Bloc, German engineers developed a standardized system of modernization for existing models, labelled the ‘Kampfwertsteigerung’ (lit. ‘combat value improvement’).

For more images and even video of this vehicle, be sure to check out the full Dev Blog Article on the Official War Thunder Forums!

Anticipated by many, the FV 438 Swingfire is the first non-premium ATGM-equipped vehicle in the British lineup. This fast, nimble - but hard-hitting - armoured vehicle will surely be favourite amongst the Queen’s loyal subjects.

Developed in the early 1960’s, “Swingfire” was a relatively slow missile that would allow directional changes of 45 degrees on the horizontal and 20 degrees of elevation which created the apt name. It was a 60 pound (27 kg), 3.5 ft (1 m) long rocket with range of 2.5 miles (4 km), capable of penetrating up to 500 mm of enemy armour. The FV 438 was a British light anti-tank vehicle, equipped with the wired-guided “Swingfire” missile. The 438’s primary weapon was launched through two Swingfire ATGM launchers, or bins, which could be reloaded from inside the vehicle. Apart from the 2 missiles stored in launchers, it could carry up to 12 additional reloads. Its only secondary armament was a 7.62 mm M1919 General Purpose Machine-Gun.





FV 438 Swingfire was based on the FV432 armoured personnel carrier, a vehicle that was very lightly armoured - it was meant to deliver its crew to combat, while keeping it protected from machine-gun fire. This platform was used for several other modifications amongst which is its sister vehicle already in game - the Falcon. FV 438 “Swingfire” was powered by a Rolls-Royce K60 multifuel engine with maximum of 240 horsepower. It was a quick and nimble vehicle with weight slightly exceeding 16 tons, which could reach up to 32 mph (52 km/h).

Read the full Dev Blog Article here!