We’re excited to bring you the first screenshots of two new locations that will be arriving to War Thunder in the next major update: “Rocky Pillars” for aviation, and “Test Site — 2271” for mixed battles!




We created the Rocky Pillars map based on the mainland mountain landscapes of Southeast Asia. The weathering on the sandstone and limestone makes rock formations on this map certainly look rather interesting. Soon, pilots will be flying over the stone pillars and lush green cliffs where engines will roar, machine guns will go rat-tat-tat and pew pew, and the fiery wrecks of destroyed aircraft will burn!







The recent Atomic Heart robot event showcased the Test Site — 2271 map, and we’re happy to say that thanks to your positive feedback, we’ve made further improvements to it! This map will be coming to the game for mixed battles as part of the next major update.

• A bug that caused a brief display of night vision in third-person view when switching the camera from third-person to sniper mode has been fixed.
  
• Pz.Sp.Wg.P204(f) KwK — the collision model has been corrected.

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.

The 39.М Csaba armored car is the first researchable vehicle of the Hungarian armored vehicles lineup!


Features:

• High forward and reverse speed.
  
• Limited magazines of the 20mm anti tank rifle.
  
• Lightly armored.

The 39.M Csaba armored car will start the research of a new Hungarian lineup of armored vehicles as part of the Italian ground vehicles research tree. Meet the Csaba, a fast little scout with an independent suspension and a 20mm cannon. Let’s take a look!

The Csaba has a good power-to-weight ratio, and thanks to its 90 HP Ford engine, allows it to accelerate up to 65 km/h on paved roads when driving forward… and also in reverse!




As for firepower, the main caliber weapon that is featured on the Csaba is a licensed version of the 20mm Swiss QF 36.M Solothurn anti-tank rifle. This gun is magazine fed, which can be equipped with both armor piercing and high-explosive fragmentation shells. These AP shells will work well against enemy light vehicles, however with not the highest rate of fire and small magazine size of 5 shells, you’ll need to aim precisely at an enemy's important internal components, such as the ammo or crew.




The armor on the Csaba is only bulletproof, and as a result of this, in almost all areas except the forehead of the hull, the Csaba can be penetrated by the fire of heavy machine guns as well as enemy anti-tank guns. These types of weaponry will pierce through with ease.



The addition of the exciting 39.M Csaba means that it will open the way for you to explore Hungarian armored vehicles. That’s all for now — come and drive them, there are lots of interesting things ahead!

The next major update for War Thunder — "Sons of Attila"!

We’re continuing to move along with our Roadmap that we released back in June. In today’s news article, we’re going to be talking about the reduction of the research and purchase cost of aircraft, as well as the changes to numerous maps thanks to your feedback. These changes will come to the game in the upcoming major update — thank you very much for leaving feedback across all War Thunder platforms, which in turn helps to make the game better!


We’re pleased to announce and present to you the changes that will see the reduction of the research and purchase costs of top-tier aircraft! These changes will not only affect VI-VII as we previously announced in the Roadmap, but in addition, rank V as well as many reductions and some increases in the price of vehicles of other ranks due to rearrangements in ranks and future placements into groups. After we sat down to work on aircraft that needed to be reduced, the decision to also reduce the costs of rank V and other aircraft ranks was made after we looked at detailed analytics as well as statistical calculated data. As with our previous Roadmap news article, we’re presenting these changes to you today so that you can have a detailed look and prepare for them in advance. These changes will be released in the upcoming major update alongside the progression changes in September, so that the Research Point cost for vehicles moving up in rank don’t need to be changed twice.

Let’s dive into the details as to what exactly is being reduced. The following parameters will see reductions:

• The amount of Research Points required to research aircraft.
  
• The amount of Research Points required to research modifications of aircraft.
  
• The Silver Lion cost for purchasing aircraft.
  
• The Silver Lion cost for crewing aircraft.
  
• The Silver Lion cost for purchasing an Expert Crew.
  
• The Silver Lion cost for purchasing modifications.

As there will be a lot, we’ve prepared two Google Spreadsheet documents that contain preliminary data for you to take a detailed look:

• Table with summarized changes.
  
• Table with detailed changes for specific vehicles.

In addition to the above, during the work we carried out, we’ve also decided to take a closer look at the game’s initial ranks — this includes the smoothing of purchasing vehicles. We realized that the balance of Silver Lion costs in relation to the earn rate of Research Points and vehicles could fall behind. Because of this, we’re excited to say that the purchase cost of a wide range of most vehicles in all ranks: aircraft, ground vehicles and naval forces, will see a reduction. This also includes a reduction in crewing vehicles, purchasing Expert Crews, as well as vehicle modifications. The details regarding these changes are also included in the two linked tables mentioned above.


To reiterate, the changes to research trees and the reduction of Research Points for grouped vehicles that we have previously talked about will be coming to the upcoming major update, and alongside this, the dynamic reduction of repair costs. We’d like to admit that it has taken a little more time to dynamically reduce repair costs than we would have liked, but it is now in the final testing stage.


We’re continuing to work on significant improvements to a variety of maps in the game. These improvements are based on the valuable feedback that you have left on our platforms, as well as from content creators. Thank you! To start, we’ll mention some initial changes to the landscape and design of the following maps: El Alamein, Aral Sea, Iberian Fortress, Normandy, Alaska, Ground Zero, Maginot Line, Stalingrad, Sun City, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, and Seversk-13. These are not the only changes, as we’ll continue to be improving these maps. At the end of this news article, we’ll also let you know about the detailed changes to the following maps: Poland, Karelia, American Desert, 38th Parallel, Normandy, and Jungle.

The improvements that have been made to these maps will come to the game in the upcoming major update, as well as the revision of collision models for objects located on these maps. We know that these changes are anticipated, and for those who want these changes right now, we’d like to quickly note as to why they are coming in the upcoming major update. An update only for map changes would require a large download, and many maps would be temporarily removed from the map rotation. To avoid this, waiting a little and releasing these changes in the upcoming major update will ensure that this does not happen. Thank you for your patience!

With all of this in mind, let’s dive into the detailed improvements that have been made to some of these maps.

The issues surrounding the Fields of Poland map were the open fields surrounding the main city: these fields were too open and were very easy to shoot through. This issue was partially fixed on the winter version of this map, and now these fixes have been applied to the summer version. We’ve relocated the spawn points behind cover, so that now, you will not be hit by incoming shells as soon as you spawn in. In addition to that, we’ve also grouped all variations of the Poland map into one folder, making it easier to Like, Dislike or Ban this map in the map filter!

Before:

After:


Karelia has had some changes to its overly powerful map positions around the map edges, as well a reduction of ravines that were easy to fall into and get stuck in.

On American Desert, we’ve revamped the northern part of this map. In particular, the large hill in this location that was prone to being camped on. In addition to this, the C point has been completely redesigned, as well as the area behind the railroad tracks.

38th Parallel suffered from asymmetry — one side of the map had very powerful positions to shoot from, whereas the other side did not. Both sides of this map will now have equal positions.

The Normandy map will now be more symmetrical, and the eastern spawn point that was located on the beach will be significantly moved south, closer to the city. The church near this area has always been a powerful interest spot, but ultimately, only for one team. Therefore, an updated capture point, in the form of a windmill, will now be located near the center of the map. This new windmill will replace the church that we mentioned. Some of the roads in the southern part of the map will be removed.

Before:

After:


For Jungle, we’ve reduced the density of some of the vegetation, which in turn will help improve visibility and will reduce the number of ambush spots. In addition to this, the color palette of the vegetation has been improved, therefore making this map much more pleasant to play on.


We sincerely hope that all of these changes have met your expectations. Once again, we thank you for all your feedback and patience regarding these changes. Please do continue to leave your feedback and comments: be it either on our official forums, social media, on Steam, Reddit, as well as other platforms that we read.

The VIDAR is an export variant of the South Korean K9 Thunder self-propelled gun, developed during the mid 2010s as a replacement for outdated equipment used by the Norwegian Army at the time. Soon, the powerful VIDAR will join the ranks of the Swedish ground forces tree as a new premium ground vehicle arriving as part of the next major update!

Briefly: A Norwegian export version of the South Korean K9 SPG, featuring a powerful 155 mm gun coupled with excellent mobility.


You can purchase this pack by clicking the Shop button whilst in the hangar, and then clicking Online Store.

Price: 49.99

• K9 VIDAR (Rank 5, Sweden);
  
• 2000 Golden Eagles;
  
• 15 days of Premium account;
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique title “God of Vengeance”;
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique decal “Fenrir”.
  

Features:

• High caliber cannon.
  
• Laser rangefinder.
  
• Thermal imager.
  
• Lightweight protection.
  
• Premium bonuses.

Coming to War Thunder in the next major update, the VIDAR will reinforce the Swedish ground forces tree as a new self-propelled gun at rank V. Thanks to its massive gun, excellent mobility and premium bonuses, you’ll be able to take full advantage of the highly capable K9, to not only advance through the ranks of the Swedish ground tree quicker, but also have a literal blast while doing so. Sounds explosive enough? Let’s dive into the details!



Similar to other nation’s high-caliber SPGs found at this rank, the VIDAR is equipped with a powerful 155 mm L/52 howitzer, possessing good overall ballistic properties making the gun relatively simple to use in direct fire mode. Despite its high caliber however, you’ll be able to fire off a round every 10 seconds thanks to the assisted loading mechanism. The VIDAR’s fire control system boasts valuable options such as a laser rangefinder and thermal imager, helping you to seek and destroy enemies at distances in any conditions.




By default, the VIDAR has access to the standard 155 mm M107 HE round that many tankers are sure to be familiar with. However, you’ll also be able to opt for the slightly heavier OE F3 HE round, which is not only packed with slightly more explosive mass, but also sports a higher muzzle velocity. With the VIDAR enjoying premium status, both rounds are available to tankers immediately after obtaining the vehicle. Aside from a powerful main gun, the K9 also features a .50 caliber roof-mounted machine gun that will certainly come in handy for combating enemy aircraft and can also be used for analogue rangefinding.

Did you know? The name ‘VIDAR’ is simultaneously an acronym standing for ‘Versatile Indirect Artillery’ but also draws inspiration from the ancient Norse god of silence and vengeance.

Naturally, with the VIDAR being a support vehicle by design, engineers designed the vehicle with only limited protection. Thanks to its 1,000 HP diesel engine, the K9 can reach very respectable speeds of up to 67 km/h under ideal conditions. Furthermore, with such responsive mobility, the VIDAR can quickly shift positions along the frontline each time it fires off a salvo and can thus remain an elusive target to the enemy!

The VIDAR will soon join the Swedish ground forces tree at rank V as a new premium vehicle and will become available upon the release of the next major update. That’s this dev blog wrapped up — be sure to stay tuned to the news as we continue to reveal what other exciting new features and additions await you in the upcoming update. Until then, happy hunting tankers!

The F-16C Block 50 is a further developed variant of the famous F-16 multi-role fighter — featuring a new engine and new guided weapons. Meet this exciting jet fighter, coming to War Thunder in the next major update!


Features:

• 8 weapon hardpoints.
  
• Laser-guided bombs.
  
• Improved engine.

The F-16C Block 50 will come to War Thunder in the next major update as a new flagship jet fighter at the top of the US fighter jet line. Featuring 8 weapon hardpoints, a more powerful engine, AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles, and most excitingly, new laser-guided precision bombs, the F-16C will be a formidable force to be reckoned with. Let’s take a look at the details!

Courtesy of the Block 50 modernization program, the F-16C is equipped with a brand new F110-GE-129 engine, which in comparison to the well known F-16A, means the F-16C will have an increase in thrust in static and lower speeds. Furthermore, when approaching the speed of sound, the thrust increase is proportional to the overall mass of the F-16C. Because of this, while at transonic and supersonic speeds, the performance of the F-16C is equal to or just slightly superior to the F-16A Block 15.





Moving onto what weaponry this further developed F-16C has to offer. Thanks to 8 weapon hardpoints and a new radar, the F-16C will ensure that you’ll have the best weapons at your disposal. For air-to-air missiles, the F-16C can carry the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile as well as AIM-9L Sidewinders. In addition to this, the F-16C can also carry conventional unguided weapons that can be used against ground targets, which include free-fall retarded bombs, incendiary bombs as well as rockets — there’s certainly plenty to choose from!



There are also exciting new laser-guided bombs, which are currently not featured on F-16s in the game, thanks to the addition of the LITENING II targeting pod. Previous F-16 pilots will be glad to know that this means two types of bombs — the GBU-12 Paveway II and GBU-24 Paveway III — weighing 500 and 2,000 pounds respectively, will be able to be carried on the F-16C. Moreover, the F-16C can also carry AGM-65D Maverick missiles, which are launched from a triple-rail pod.




We’d like to mention that our artists, especially for the F-16C Block 50, have prepared a very cool “snake” camouflage of the Viper Demo Team aerobatic team. That’s it for now! This fantastic and further developed F-16C will be waiting for you with the release of the next major update. Until that happens, happy flying, pilots!

• The minimum Battle Rating of sessions in which strike UAVs are available has been increased from 10.7 to 11.3.

• Fuzed projectiles that ricochet off the ground now detonate at a much shorter distance from the ricochet point.
  
• A bug that caused a lack of illuminating light in night-time ground battles has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused a brief display of thermal imagery from the thermal sights in third-person view when switching the camera from third-person to sniper mode has been fixed.
  
• ZT3A2 — a bug that caused an offset of the coaxial machine gun which also made firing the guns shoot above the target has been fixed. (Report)
  
• A bug related to radio fuze activation of anti-aircraft guided missiles when switching target tracking modes between radar and infrared sensor has been fixed. (Report)
  
• A bug where if rounds hit an enemy vehicle and a display of the “Shell destroyed” message in the impact camera shows, damaged icons in red for components and the crew would display, even if the vehicle hit did not receive any damage has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused ATGM lock-ons to switch to other objects with high-temperatures such as rockets has been fixed.

• SK60B, SAAB-105G, SAAB-105OE — a bug that caused damage to be displayed even though the tail was shot off has been fixed.
  
• SK60B — the weight of suspended armament per wing has been increased from 500kg to 550kg.
  
• Q-5A — a bug that caused two inboard empty pylons to be shown on each wing when using the Type-130-2 missile has been fixed. (Report)
  
• J1N1 — a bug that caused the wrong number of turrets to display in the vehicle’s stat card (4 instead of 2) has been fixed.
  
• Lightning F.53 — a bug that made it impossible to copy a weapon loadout that had 48 x RP rockets and 144 x SNEB type 23 rockets has been fixed.
  
• AJ37 — a bug that caused the x-ray view of the outboard 30mm Akan m/55 guns to remain even when this gun was detached has been fixed.
  
• Su-25T, Su-39 — a bug that caused the button for the infrared countermeasures to not work has been fixed.

• A bug that caused the first-round replenishment indicator to disappear when opening the scoreboard in ground battles has been fixed.
  
• The readability of the hit camera tooltip has been improved. Regular hits to vehicles are now displayed in orange, while a non-damaging hit is now shown in green.
  
• A bug that caused the tooltip of torpedoes in-game when hovering over them to display an incorrect depth has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused a large number of rewards for actions in the battle results tooltip screen to clip outside of the screen has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused armor-piercing shells on stealth belts to display incorrectly in the protection analysis screen has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused the multifunctional menu in battle whilst in an aircraft with a ballistic computer for guns to erroneously show missiles active has been fixed.
  
• The ability to display the names on markers of allied players only in squads has been added to the settings.
  
• A bug that, in some cases, caused the filter of preferred maps to incorrectly display a lower Battle Rating has been fixed.

• Ka-Chi — a bug that caused vehicle tracks to incorrectly display in the sky for other players has been fixed. (Report)

• The incorrect activation time for the sale of coupons from the “Summer Extreme” event 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 special version of the T-90 main battle tank that is in service with the Indian Army comes to the game as a new squadron vehicle, available in the upcoming major War Thunder update!


Features:

• Good protection against other tanks.
  
• Advanced ammunition!
  
• Lacks soft-kill APS.
  
• Slow reverse speed.

The Indian T-90 Bhishma tank is a special version of the Russian T-90 tank, modified to fit the needs of the Indian Army. The T-90 Bhishma will arrive to the game as a new squadron vehicle in the upcoming War Thunder major update. Its ERA protection, guided missiles and a modern fire-control system make the tank an exotic and desirable addition to Britain’s top-tier ground forces lineup!


Let’s take a look at the main differences of the Indian T-90 Bhishma. Firstly, the Bhishma lacks the well-known soft-kill active protection system (those spooky-looking red eyes), and secondly, the Russian 3BM60 APFSDS round. In the position of where the APS emitters would be, the Indian Army requested additional ERA blocks, which in turn improves the overall turret protection from shots to the front. Additionally, an IR searchlight was mounted on the kingpin of the commander’s hatch to help illuminate targets in the dark. Other differences include another angle of smoke grenade launchers, a different design of the dozer blade, and increased anti-radiation armor — this slightly improves the protection of the tank.




As the T-90 Bhishma is a modern tank, it offers good protection in the form of Kontakt-5 ERA — as well as an advanced fire control system which promises good fighting dynamics. The T-90 Bhishma also features a large capacity autoloader, and can fire excellent tandem warhead ATGMs from the main cannon.




There are, however, some disadvantages of the T-90 Bhishma. In addition to the lack of APS as we’ve already mentioned, the T-90 Bhishma also has poor reverse speed, which is, unfortunately for T-90 fans, an inescapable legacy of the T-72 series. As T-72 and T-90 enjoyers would know, this in turn may make the T-90 Bhishma tricky to use whilst wanting to roll back behind cover after taking or receiving a shot. The T-90 Bhishma also brings along with it poor gun depression and turret traverse speed.

Just like other squadron vehicles, the T-90 Bhishma can be obtained for free by gaining enough squadron activity points, and can also be purchased for GE. If you’re still without a squadron, the T-90 Bhishma is a good reason to join one in War thunder — or even lead your own. See you in the next dev blog!

A formidable vehicle comes to the game: meet the AMX-10M, a French SPG that was specifically designed to fire anti-tank guided missiles!


Features:

• A gun that is capable of firing ATGMs!
  
• An auxiliary 20mm gun, good against light tanks and aircraft.
  
• Decent mobility — able to get to cover quickly.
  
• Capability to be amphibious.

With the arrival of the next major update, the AMX-10M will help bolster the French ground force lineup in and around rank V, thanks to its decent mobility, 20mm autocannon and 142mm gun that is capable of firing anti-tank guided missiles. Let’s take a detailed look at what this SPG can offer!



Experimental guns that were capable of firing anti-tank guided missiles were developed as part of the ACRA anti-tank project in France. French ground force players and their enemies may already be familiar with one particular vehicle that derived from this project: the AMX-30 ACRA, which has already been in the game for some time now, and has the same gun as the AMX-10M! Moving onto the nitty-gritty parts of this tank, the missiles fired from the 142mm ACRA gun have great velocity and a range of nearly 4km — which is even enough to scare and take out enemies that are flying a helicopter within this range. We’re also going to mention the missile’s penetration: these missiles can pierce through 700mm of armor, which is enough to defeat most homogeneous armor and even early ERA!




The AMX-10M can also carry conventional high-explosive shells, which will certainly help in sticky situations at closer ranges where the use of an anti-tank guided missile just doesn’t quite cut it. The AMX-10M’s turret also includes a handy auxiliary 20mm autocannon, which is useful against lightly armored vehicles as well as low flying planes and helicopters that you may encounter.




Moving on to an important part of any tank: armor. The AMX-10M’s armor is cast light alloy, which is enough to keep out light machine guns and nearby artillery strikes that it may face. However, this does mean that it will struggle to protect against conventional anti-tank shells and larger machine guns that are fired from enemy tanks. Be sure to utilize the gun from longer distances!

The quirky, but nonetheless interesting AMX-10M tank will be an exciting addition to the French ground tree, and will be coming in the next major War Thunder update. That’s this dev blog wrapped up — be sure to stay tuned to our website and social media, where we’ll be announcing other dev blogs soon!