The new Italian Starter Pack includes a premium light M14/41 (47/40) tank and a Re.2001 Gruppo 22 fighter, which, along with an ample amount of Silver Lions and Premium Account days, will ensure confident victories and rapid development in the early ranks of War Thunder!

Two Pacific campaigns, based upon historical events, allow you to fight as a pilot in the U.S. Navy or Imperial Japanese Air Forces in the battles of the Pacific Theatre.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364970

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364971

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1368110

• T-80B — fixed a bug where the empty mortars were not displayed on the basic version of the tank, without the installed modifications of Smoke Grenade Launchers or Kontak-I.
  
• IL-2 M-82 — battle rating has been changed to 2.7 for all gaming modes.
  
• Bf 110 (all series) — the description of the modification for 50 kg bombs has been corrected.
  
• Mi-4AV — the third-person view camera position in zoom has been changed for more comfortable aiming.
  
• IL-28 (all series) — the popup info that showed the thickness of the 32 mm armor plates as 30 mm has been corrected.
  
• IL-2-37, IL-2M (1943) — data card info on number of crew (previously there was one crew member) has been corrected.
  
• The aircraft ATGM SS-11 designation has been changed to AS-11.
  
• Strv m/39 TD — a bug with missing “Twitch” camo has been fixed.
  
• World War — balance fixes to the “Battle for the Chinese farm’ scenario:
  • Israeli light tank group: AMX-13-90 has been changed to AMX-13.
    
  • Number of backup tank armies for Egypt has been increased by 1.
    
  • Number of backup tank armies for Israel has been reduced by 1.
    
  • Number of backup aircraft armies for both sides has been reduced by 1.
    
  • Deployment time for backup armies for both sides has been corrected in accordance with the new number of armies.
• A bug has been fixed, where the World War army commander sometimes could not queue a new operation immediately after the previous operation had ended.
  
• A bug has been fixed that allowed cloning an infantry army during embussing to transports that resulted in a crash in the current operation.
  
• Bugs have been fixed with the incorrect application of the “Kontakt-I” modification in World War battles and the shooting of two rounds at once.

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

Check out the full article here!

Britain
Crusader II “The Saint”

Japan
Chi-He (5th Regiment)

Italy
M11/41 (47/40)

• Enduring confrontation. The front line now reflects the shape of sectors (now it is drawn not with a curved line, but with rectangular lines along the borders of sectors).
  
• Naval Enduring confrontation. Known and reported bugs with the visualization of the front line on Malta and Saipan after capturing and recapturing ports, have been fixed.
  
• Naval Enduring confrontation. A bug has been fixed when the base targeted for bombing, located in the same square as the port, did not disappear when capturing the port.
  
• Naval Enduring confrontation. Disabling the respawn point in port is now possible only when the number of enemy vessels is greater than the friendly ones (only for ships and player-controlled aircraft which have landed either on the ground or at sea). A lone vessel can no longer block the respawn.
  
• A bug with a user mission crash involving infantry has been fixed.
  
• Roads have been corrected in the following locations: Ladoga, Kuban, Hurtgen Forest, Stalingrad, Mozdok, Moscow.
  
• Visual bugs have been corrected in the following locations: Abandoned Factory, White Rock Fortress, Tropical Island, Emperor's Garden, French Coast, New Zealand Cape, South Kvarken, Carelia, Kuban (Ground Forces), American Desert, Port Novorossiysk.

• T-72A — upper front plate protection parameters with kinetic and HEAT effects have been corrected. The equivalent of protection against kinetic effects is set equal to 405 mm, from HEAT- 500-510 mm. Previously, the protection against HEAT rounds was erroneously overstated.
  
• T-80B — upper front plate protection parameters with kinetic and HEAT effects have been corrected. The equivalent of protection against kinetic effects is set equal to 420 mm, from HEAT- 520-530 mm.
  
• T-64B — upper front plate protection parameters with kinetic effect have been corrected. The equivalent of protection against kinetic effects is set equal to 440 mm.
  
• M3 Bradley - TOW launcher unfolding time has been reduced.
  
• 9P149 Sturm-S - a bug allowing a shot on the move when the reload ends has been fixed.
  
• A bug with lateral friction of tracks, where vehicles could climb steep mountains and hills, moving parallel to the slope, has been fixed.
  
• A bug where switching the types of shells could not be fixed on replays has been fixed.
  
• Centauro MGS - armour has been added to optics.
  
• P40, P40 "G.C. Leoncello" - artefact obstructions have been removed from the gunner’s sight (report).
  
• M60A1 RISE (P) - artefact obstructions have been removed from the gunner’s sight (report).
  
• CV 90120 - the gun animation has been fixed (report).
  
• Strv 122 - some NERA armour elements have been marked as volumetric.
  
• SPz BMP-1 -the gun animation has been corrected.
  
• T-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.) — smoke round has been added.

• Firebrand TF.Mk.IV - a bug has been fixed where rocket pylons might appear on the model even on the modification without rockets.
  
• Mi-35M - the protection cover has been removed from the electro-optical warfare system module.
  
• SB2U-2, SB2U-3 - a bug with ‘shifting’ mounted weapons has been fixed.
  
• AH-1S Kisarazu — the tail rotor texture has been fixed.
  
• UH-1B, UH-1C, UH-1C XM-30 — moving 7.62mm MGs aiming angles have been fixed.
  
• F-104A, F-104C — a bug where the x-ray model was not consistent to the visual model, has been fixed (report).
  
• F-104G — cockpit textures have been fixed on the external model.
  
• Phantom FGR.2 — the lack of animation on mounted gun pods has been fixed.
  
• J22-A, J22-B — the lack of animation of the right aileron has been fixed. (report).
  
• P-40E (all series) — the visual model of the landing gear has been fixed.
  
• P-51K — the lack of shooting animation of the wing machine guns has been fixed. (report).
  
• Vautour (all series) — the display of speed on cockpit instruments has been fixed (report).
  
• The launching of the air-to-air missiles Igla, Stinger and Mistral from a launcher is now carried out with an offset above the target instead of pulling-up after launch, this is exactly how the launch takes place in reality.
  
• Hs 123 A-1 — an invisible tail hook has been removed (report).
  
• Gladiator (all series) — the display of speed on cockpit instruments has been fixed.
  
• B6N (all series) — the pilot camera position in the cockpit has been fixed (report).

• F-104 (all series) - the weight of engines in x-ray mode has been corrected; the max speed on 100% thrust has been increased.
  
• F4U7/AU-1 - a bug has been fixed which caused decreased controllability in all types of controls.
  
• Hunter (all series) - a bug has been fixed which caused increased fuel consumption.
  
• Ki-100 - a bug has been fixed causing delayed achievement of desired revs.
  
• Ki-45 (all series) - the flight model has been completely updated in correspondence to the actual abilities of the physics model. Polars of the wings, fuselage, and propeller blades have been recalculated and specified. Moments of inertia have been specified. Engine operating modes have also been specified. Fuel distribution in tanks has been corrected.
  
• Mirage IIIC - a bug in the engine’s thermodynamic in WEP mode has been fixed. The nature of stalling at high altitudes has been adjusted.
  
• P-47-N15 - a bug leading to increased consumption of anti-knock liquid on WEP has been fixed.
  
• PBM-3 - a bug with the bouncing of the aircraft in the hangar when switching to it has been fixed.
  
• J35D - max speed at altitude has been increased according to reference data.
  
• Sea Hawk (all series) - a bug with wing high-lift devices and the airbrake has been fixed.
  
• Scimitar F Mk.1 - a bug leading to the incorrect operation of aileron amplifiers resulting in a decrease of the angular roll speed at subsonic speeds has been fixed. Now there will be no speed drop.
  
• Swift (all series) - aircraft incorrect fuel consumption has been fixed.
  
• B-17G - a bug leading to incorrect engine overheat has been fixed.
  
• SBD-3 - the flight model has been completely updated in correspondence to the actual abilities of the physics model. Polars of the wings, fuselage, and propeller blades have been recalculated and specified. Moments of inertia have been specified. Engine operating modes have also been specified. Fuel distribution in tanks has been corrected.

Armament

• The armour piercing capabilities of the front cone shrapnel for HE rounds has been increased towards splash penetration.
  
• Vosper 70' GIS 811 — elevation and traverse angles of the stern quad gun have been increased.

Naval characteristics, physics and damage model

• Admiral Graf Spee, Admiral Hipper, Prinz Eugen, Leipzig, Nurnberg, IJN Furutaka, IJN Mogami, IJN Suzuya, IJN Mikuma, IJN Tone, HMS Belfast, HMS Hawkins, HMS Kent — an experimental system of anti-torpedo bulges has been introduced. Bulges on light cruisers are able to protect against torpedoes with an explosive weight not exceeding 200 kg in TNT-eq. Bulges of heavy cruisers protect against torpedoes up to 250 kg in TNT-eq. If the anti-torpedo bulge is destroyed/breached, any further torpedo hits inflict full damage to the ship's hull.
  
• PGH-2, PG 02, Sparviero — the collision geometry on the boat’s bottom has been specified.
  
• Siebelfähre 40 Leichte Flakkampffähre, Siebelfähre 40 Schwere Flakkampffähre — the crew has been redistributed in the compartments, which gives them greater survivability to damage from heavy machine guns. Ammunition has been moved to the deck. The buoyancy(unsinkability) of the barge has grown significantly due to the restructuring of the pontoons.
  
• AF D3, AF D1 — the crew has been redistributed in the compartments, which gives them greater survivability to damage from heavy machine guns. The volume of the radio room has been increased. The concrete rails have been refined.
  
• LCS(L)(3) — the crew has been redistributed in the compartments, which gives them greater survivability to damage from heavy machine guns. The volume of the conning room has been reduced.
  
• Admiral Graf Spee, Admiral Hipper, Prinz Eugen — the volume of the ammunition compartments has been specified. The volume of the handling rooms has been excluded.
  
• Leipzig, Nurnberg, IJN Mogami, IJN Mikuma, IJN Suzuya — size and position of the crew compartments have been specified. The cutout in the deck inside the barbette has been made narrower.
  
• IJN Tone — the location of the ammunition compartments has been fixed, additional armament magazines have been added, first-round shells for 127 mm anti-aircraft artillery have been added. The X-ray of ammunition compartments and elevators have been fixed. The thickness of the hull and structures has been fixed. Fuel tanks have been reworked from scratch. The narrowing of the belt in the magazines from 145 mm at the upper edge to 55 to the lower is implemented. The thickness of the bow traverse has been changed from 175 mm to 140 mm. Barbet base thickness changed to 75-100 mm for turret number 2, 75 mm for other turrets.
  
• Prinz Eugen — the level of armour plates on the deck has been set according to the visual model.

Naval Visual models and visual parts:

• IJN Tone — the radar has been changed from mk21 to mk22. Hydroplanes have been removed from the deck. Decorative plates under the 25mm AA guns have been added. Restricting structures have been added for 120mm guns.
  
• IJN Furutaka — the visual models of the depth charge launchers have been added on the stern.

• The number of vehicles required to research rank IV to get to rank V of the Italian navy has been changed from 2 to 3.

• New decals “Numbers” have been added for Swedish ground forces.
  
• Strv m/39 TD — default camo has been changed. “Twitch” camo added free, in the ‘Custom’ section.
  
• Bugs of the user camo template have been fixed for the following vehicles: Bf 109 F-4, Bf 109 F-4 (USA), Bf 109 G-6, Do 217 E-2, Do 217 E-4, F9F-2, F9F-5, He 111 H-16, He 111 H-3, He 51 B-1, Ju 87 D-3, C.200 serie 7, P-38J-15, P-38J-15 Bong’s, PBY-5a "Catalina", Catalina Mk. IIIa, PBY-5a "Catalina" (USSR), SPz BMP-1, Pz.Kpfw. Churchill, KV-IB (Germany), leKPz M41, mKPz M47 G, Tiger II (H) Sla.16, Tiger (animal), M60A1 "D.C.Ariete", M43 "G.C.Leoncello", Strv m/39 TD, LVT(A)(4) ZIS-2 (USA), M4 748 (a), T-III (USSR).

• Navigation bombing interface (Continuously Computed Release Point, CCRP) has been changed — added a vertical line for more comfortable aiming on dives/pull-ups.
  
• CCRP accuracy has been increased on dives/pull-ups.
  
• Indication of sight operations for all types of aircraft/helicopter weapons has been added to the HUD.
  
• Now, when the target is locked on by a helicopter optical tracking system, the correction mode is immediately activated. The player no longer needs to turn it on manually and press the target lock key twice to stop target tracking.

• A bug has been fixed where the sound of a tank shot might not be heard if the shooting vehicle was not displayed on the map.

• It is now possible to zoom in when in first person view whilst using a VR headset.
  
• Blackout and redout visual effects now work in VR.

The War Thunder Team

The United States of America celebrates Independence Day on July the 4th - an important national holiday commemorating the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This day is commonly considered as the birthday of the US.

George Washington issued double rations of rum to all his soldiers to mark the anniversary of independence in 1778, and in 1781, several months before the key American victory at the Battle of Yorktown, Massachusetts became the first state to make July the 4th an official state holiday. The war for Independence finally ended officially in September of 1783.

Play 3 battles in US vehicles (Rank II or higher, with a battle activity of 60% or over) to receive the special “Independence Day” decal.


Terms and conditions

The task can be completed in random battle modes, apart from “Enduring confrontation” and “Assault” mode.

Check your progress by clicking your nickname → Achievements → US Independence Day.

The War Thunder Team

• Now loading a ground army is only possible when the helicopter and transport army(e.g. landing craft) is stationary.
  
• A single helicopter army now always fights a ground army in auto mode. You will still be able to send helicopters as reinforcements to a battle involving ground armies.
  
• Balance changes to the “Battle for the Fulda Gap” scenario:
  • USSR ground army:
    • MBT: 70 → 60;
      
    • Combat vehicles: 30 → 40;
  • USSR infantry army:
    • Combat vehicles: 15 → 30;
  • Germany infantry army:
    • MBT: 10 → 20;
      
    • Combat vehicles: 15 → 20;
  • Initial starting USSR fighters: 100 → 70.
    
  • German MBT units: The Leopard I has been removed from the list of available vehicles; the M48A2 G A2 has been set as the default vehicle.
    
  • German infantry armies have been deployed to sectors E3 and F5.

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

• A bug where some parts of a destroyed/burnt tank might have appeared undamaged has been fixed.
  
• A bug which caused server replays to potentially not record to the end of a match has been fixed.
  
• A bug where the ‘join battle’ button in the menu of World War mode would be inactive if a player had chosen a nation in the hangar other than one of the participating nations of the battle, has been fixed.
  
• A bug where the ‘Create a vehicle setup’ button in World War Mode would not work correctly if a player had chosen a nation in the hangar other than one of the participating nations of the battle, has been fixed.
  
• A rare client crash which would occur after joining ‘Fulda Gap’ missions has been fixed.

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

A new season in ‘World War’ begins on July 1st. Large scale operations with unique missions and awesome prizes await squadrons and lone fighters alike!

July 1st until July 20th - 10 game days of the “Road to the West” season!

Schedule of the operations


Battle for the Fulda Gap

(USSR vs Germany)
Alternate history scenario. July 25th, 1985. Soviet forces rely on a powerful tank group, for the operation of which two lowlands in the mountainous area of Hesse — the Fulda Gap — are well suited.

Battle of the “Chinese Farm”

(Egypt (USSR) vs Israel (USA))
Historical scenario. October 17th, 1973. Israeli forces crossed the Suez Canal and entrenched themselves on its west bank. The Egyptian command plans a counterattack near the Chinese Farm with the aim of encircling the enemy and regaining control of the Tirtur and Akawish roads.


All players are able to unlock the following awards by earning “World War” Stars .

IL-2 (M-82) (Premium, II rank)


An experimental modification of the legendary Sturmovik, created amidst the Nazi onslaught. A different engine and a long-anticipated defensive turret with .50 machine-gun.

M60 AMBT (event special, VII rank)


The most advanced modification of the M60 in the game. Improved mobility thanks to its powerful diesel engine, and a mighty 120mm smoothbore gun, similar to the M1A1 Abrams.

For more information, and the full list of awards, check out the full article here!

BR changes (Open in a new tab)

Research, purchase, crew training costs and other related parameters for vehicles have been changed (tablesheet with the main parameters) (Open in a new tab)

All economy indicators for vehicles will be changed according to rank.

-USA:

• M15A1 CGMC — moved to rank II.
  
• M19 — moved to rank III.

-Germany:

• Begleitpanzer 57 and TAM — moved to another research branch, after SPz BMP-1.
  
• RakJPz 2 and RakJPz 2 (HOT) — moved to another research branch, after Jagdtiger.

-Italy:

• 90/53 M41M - moved before 75/46 M43.
  
• 75/46 M43 - has been positioned out of the group.
  
• 105/25 M43 and 75/34 M43 have been grouped.

-USSR:

• Т-55A and T-62 — switched places.
  
• Т-62 and T-62M-1 — have been grouped.
  
• BMP-3 and Object 685 — moved to rank VI.
  
• KV-2 (1939) — moved out of the group, now located before the KV-1S — moved to rank II.
  
• SU-76М - moved to rank I, ahead of the ZiS-30.
  
• SU-152 - location moved after the SU-85 and before the SU-85M.
  
• ISU-152 - moved to rank III and grouped with the SU-152

-China

• SU-76М (China) - moved to rank I, ahead of the LVT(ZiS-2).

-Japan:

• Ho-Ro - moved to rank I.

-USA:

• SB2U-2 and SB2U-3 — have been grouped.
  
• A-26B-10 and A-26B-50 — have been grouped.

-Germany:

• Ta 152 H-1 and Ta 152 C-3 — have been grouped.
  
• Me 410 A-1/U4 and Me 410 B-2/U4 — have been grouped.
  
• He 111 H-16 — have been moved to rank II.
  
• Do 217 K-1 and Do 217 M-1 — have been grouped.

-USSR:

• IL-10 and IL-10 (1946) — have been grouped.
  
• Yak-9UT and Yak-3U — switched places.

-France:

• D.500 and D.501 — have been grouped.

-Germany:

• MZ1 and Jaguar-Klasse (140) — switched places.

-Italy:

• VAS 201 and MS-15 — switched places.
  
• MV-611 and MS-472 — switched places.

-Setup 1_5

• Removed: T18E2, Т-126
  
• Added: 75/18 M41, 75/32 M41

-Setup 2_5

• Removed: Mk.VIA AA, T18E2, Panzerjäger I, M14/41, 47/32 L40, 75/18 M41, 75/32 M41
  
• Added: 15 cm Pz.W.42, T 34 747 (r), 75/34 M43, 105/25 M43, M43 "G.C.Leoncello", M4 Hybrid

-Setup 3_5

• Removed: ZSD63, M4A2 (USSR), Т-50, 75/34 M42
  
• Added: T18E2, 75/46 M43

-Setup 8_5

• Respawn point costs for heavy tanks have been increased to 450 RP.

-Setup 8_2_5

• Removed: Object 906, Т-10

-Setup 10_5

• Removed: Centurion Action X, Begleitpanzer 57, Swingfire, M247, M60A3 TTS

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

In 2011, the Turkish company StandartBio proposed a large-scale modernization program for outdated M60 tanks. The program was called the Affordable Main Battle Tank (AMBT) and was aimed to increase combat effectiveness of M60 tanks to a level roughly equivalent to modern main battle tanks. The main changes of this modernization were a new 1200 hp diesel engine, a modern fire control system with a ballistic computer and independent stabilization of the aiming line through a digital gunner’s sight, as well as a new smooth-bore M256 120-mm gun. The tank’s protection also increased slightly by installing solid hull side screens and tower slat screens. In addition, the tank received an electric turret drive, new surveillance optics, and a 25-mm automatic cannon in the commander’s turret. The AMBT modernization program was designed entirely for foreign operators of the M60 from several countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.





In War Thunder, the M60 AMBT will be the main prize in the new season of the World War. M60 AMBT will join the ranks of the modernized M60 in the game and will become the most advanced modification of this tank. By some parameters, the tank came close to the top-tier MBTs - it has the same gun as the M1A1 Abrams, a new powerful diesel engine makes the tank noticeably more agile and fast, the tower’s electric drive and stabilizer allow shooting on the move at short and medium distances. The tank's protection, although improved compared to the base M60, is still inferior to most MBT of the VII rank. The tank does not have dynamic protection either, which means that you need to be careful about the impact of ATGMs and chemical energy tank shells, especially in the hull.




In early July of 1941, due to the rapid advance of German troops into central Russia, there was a threat of a reduction in the supply of IL-2 AM-38 aircraft engines. Anticipating possible issues, Sergey Ilyushin suggested adapting the Sturmovik engine to the more common M-82 engine to the Soviet military aviation authorities. In a very short time, the aircraft engineers in the Ilyushin design bureau built a prototype attacker aircraft for testing with the new engine. The prototype also featured a much anticipated defensive turret with a position for an air gunner, the need for which became evident after the first IL-2 sorties in WWII. Unlike the production version, the IL-2 with the M-82 engine did not have engine compartment protection - the armored capsule was shortened and ended with an armored plate between the pilot and the engine. The new engine also required the installation of an updated propeller. The gunner’s seat was positioned to the rear of the cockpit, where a blister turret with a 12.7mm UBT machine gun with armored glass was located. Tests of the new version of the attack aircraft demonstrated that such a design does not have critical problems despite its inferior speed to the regular IL-2. By the spring of 1942, a prototype with the M-82IR engine appeared, which was better suited for low altitudes, from which the attack aircraft was operating most of the time. Flight characteristics have been improved, but by that time the production of native AM-38 engines was normal and there was no need to modify the IL-2 with M-82 engines any more.





In a word, Ilyushin’s experimental attack aircraft is an excellent prize for World War II enthusiasts who will get the most stubborn and skillful fighters. Go for it!

Check out the full Dev Blog article here!

• A bug where shells fired from machine guns and cannon weapons mounted on helicopters could fly through buildings and their surroundings has been fixed.

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.