We loved seeing all of the creative screenshots you captured last week! In history, some warbirds came painted in all black like the P-61 Black Widow! The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!


Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen109. You have time until the 8th of March to submit your screenshot.

After that date, 6 winners will be selected (3 of which will be the highest rated by the community and 3 selected by our judges), each of which receive a reward of 300GE.

• ● Your screenshot must include a player vehicle that is on fire.
  
• You must add the #WTscreen109 tag (title cannot have any other text in it).
  
• Artists may only win by popular vote once per four screenshot competitions.

[/b]

Screenshots need to be compliant with the War Thunder rules.

You need to be the author of the screenshot.

Screenshot needs to be new. You cannot use those which have previously been published or used in other competitions.

We will only accept raw screenshots from the game. You cannot use any editing software nor any other visual enhancements (like Nvidia Ansel filters).

You can use filters and settings built into War Thunder.

You can use the replay functionality built into War Thunder.

Rewards will be delivered to the author's account within 14 working days.

[/list]


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3167678376
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3169953315
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3168438929

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3167480227
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3169081324
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3167837853

Each winner will get 300GE! Congratulations and see you next week!

Today, we’d like to tell you about an important milestone that is approaching for War Thunder’s aircraft component — the game wide introduction of Active Radar Homing Missiles, otherwise known as FOX-3. Taking into account the characteristics of this type of weapon and its possible impact on the gameplay in air battles, we’d like to talk to you in detail about our approach to adding these highly advanced missiles into the game. 

As more and more advanced aircraft and missiles have been introduced into the game, we were faced with various challenges in implementing them and the impact on gameplay they had. Starting with the first generation of basic guided missiles, to the first missiles capable of hitting maneuvering targets, to the first all-aspect missiles, and more recently the first super-maneuverable missiles. Each of these additions had the potential to drastically change gameplay in one way or another, and sometimes not always in the direction of more fun. Because of this, the introduction of each new missile generation was preceded by many game tests by several teams, including us, the developers, our QA team, the alpha test team and by players on the dev server. This has allowed us to verify the decisions taken for gameplay consideration, the scope of necessary improvements required and the impact on balance.



Similar missiles can already be found in the game, but with features that don’t have much of a strong impact on the overall gameplay. Firstly, there’s only two aircraft that carry these missiles: the F-14A and B. Secondly, the intended purpose of the AIM-54 is primarily to combat anti-ship cruise missiles or aircraft such as heavy bombers instead of highly maneuverable targets. These types of missiles can and still do successfully hit fighters who may not see them incoming, normally because they’re flying straight. However it’s not too difficult to avoid these missiles with some maneuvering around, which is why they don’t have a massive impact on gameplay balance.

In comparison, new medium-range missiles such as the AIM-120, R-77, MICA EM and others are created and intended for use against maneuvering aircraft. Aircraft capable can carry up to 8-10 of these missiles each, which in game terms means the possibility to fire up to 100 missiles per side. Combining this with the radar capabilities of these missiles and their maneuvering characteristics at medium and close-range, this could drastically alter the current meta of the game and make it much more difficult and unforgiving when making even the slightest error.



Having said this, going by our internal tests, air dueling situations between a small group of players in a battle using these types of missiles lead to some very interesting gameplay, with new tactical approaches being created. It’s also worth noting that these missiles don’t generally provide any new range parameters for hitting targets compared to the existing ones.

Based on the above, we’re planning to conduct mass general tests of this type of weapon and their aircraft within the current dev server period. This test will be held in the form of an event with a given set of aircraft and missiles — every player who has unlocked Rank VI aircraft on the live server will be able to take part.



To participate in this event, you’ll need to put an aircraft of Rank VI or higher from the following nations into a crew slot: USA, USSR, Great Britain, China, France and Israel. The nation selected when the mode starts will determine the aircraft available for testing in the event.

List of aircraft and missiles:

• F-16C with AIM-120A missiles
  
• MiG-29SMT with R-77 missiles
  
• JAS39C with R-Darter missiles
  
• J-8F with PL-12 missiles
  
• Mirage 2000-5F with MICA-EM missiles
  
• Barak II with DERBY missiles

The introduction of these new missiles is currently planned for the second major update of this year, in which missiles with ARH seekers and their respective aircraft will be added to the game for all nations at once.

That’s today’s blog wrapped! We hope that you’ll participate and leave some feedback for us, so that together along with our analysis of statistical data, we’ll be able to find any problematic areas and outline possible ways to solve them.

More instructions on how to join the Dev Server and participate in the test here

We’re announcing two premiums that are available for pre-order from today: the Type 90B “Fuji” for Japan, and the Merkava Mk.3 Raam Segol for Israel.



Type 90B tanks are deservedly considered one of the best vehicles in the Japanese ground forces tree. Firstly, this tank’s 120 mm gun has an auto loader, allowing you to fire rounds from the first-stage ammunition rack with a reload time of just 4 seconds! Secondly, this tank is very mobile and has unique hydro pneumatic suspension, giving it the ability to peek in and out from behind low objects or hills. The Type 90B “Fuji” is a special premium version of the Type 90, featuring the Third Company of the Fuji School Armored Instructor Regiment insignia.




To pre-order from the in-game hangar, go to Shop > Online Store.

69.99

• Type 90B “Fuji” (Rank VII, Japan)
  
• Premium account for 20 days
  
• 2500 Golden Eagles
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique “Golden tank” title
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique “The 1st Mechanized Battalion Insignia” decal
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  [/expand]

The Merkava Mk.3 Raam Segol is an experimental version of the Israeli Army’s Merkava Mk.3 main battle tank, featuring the Raam Segol. In real life, this system automatically turns the tank’s turret in the direction of the laser and releases smoke grenades automatically. However in game, we’ll not be implementing this functionality as in many instances, it would interfere with the player’s control mid-combat. In-game, the Raam Segol will warn about the direction from where a laser is and the player will be able to launch smoke grenades or maneuver away as normal. In addition, this tank features thermal imaging, an effective APFSDS shell and a HE-TF shell.

The Merkava Mk.3 Raam Segol is a premium and is available for pre-order, giving you the unique “Purple Thunder” title, which is the translated name of Raam Segol, and a decal!




To pre-order from the in-game hangar, go to Shop > Online Store.

69.99

• Merkava Mk.3 Raam Segol (Rank VII, Israel)
  
• Premium account for 20 days
  
• 2500 Golden Eagles
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique “Purple Thunder” title
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique “Purple Thunder” decal
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  [/expand]

We’re announcing the brand-new premium F-20A Tigershark! Maneuverable, fast, a new powerful engine, and strong stubby wings plus an excellent selection of weapons is exactly the recipe to have some fun and be a real pain for the enemy team.

To pre-order from the in-game hangar: Shop > Online Store.
74.99

• F-20A Tigershark (Rank 8, USA)
  
• Premium account for 20 days
  
• 2500 Golden Eagles
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique “Aerial predator” title
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique “Shark” decal
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  [/expand]
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique demonstration camouflage USA
  [expand type=details]
  [/expand]

Features:

• Great top speed!
  
• Variety of weapons.
  
• Excellent maneuverability.
  
• High flutter threshold.

Vehicle History
[expand type=details]
Engineers from Northrop Corporation developed the F-20A Tigershark as a deep modernization of the F-5G fighter with improved flight and characteristics at a low cost. This new aircraft received a new power plant consisting of a single General Electric F404-100 engine, advanced avionics and radar, plus an expanded range of weapons. It made its first flight in 1982, where a total of 3 were built for testing. At the time of its creation, the F-20A was a direct competitor to the F-16 fighter jet, but was inferior to it and did not go into mass production. The only surviving F-20A was transferred to the California Science Center and is currently on display as an exhibit.
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This jet fighter could easily be called an F-5 on steroids, as everything loved about this series of compact fighters is preserved and improved: great thrust, high roll rate, short but strong wings, and an excellent choice of guided and unguided weaponry. Let’s take a further look at one of the main new vehicles coming in the next major update called Alpha Strike, and the first Rank VIII premium: the F-20A Tigershark that can be pre-ordered starting from today!

Upon looking at the F-20A you’ll have noticed that the main external difference compared to the F-5 series is the rear fuselage, which is modified and fits just one General Electric F404-GE-100 turbofan engine. This engine alone produces significantly more thrust than the twin-engines found on the F-5E, meaning truly rocket-like capabilities and the ability to excel to a rate of climb of about 240 m/s, and a maximum speed of about 2200 km/h! To sum it up, imagine the maneuverability of the late F-5s, but enhanced by a very powerful engine: you get the F-20A Tigershark. Despite being compact and lightweight, this aircraft retains excellent resistance to high overloads to the fuselage and wings. As an example, you’ll easily be able to leave the combat area and any anti-aircraft radar coverage by diving sharply to tree-top level.



Thanks to this, the F-20A’s true calling is air dueling, as it has excellent control when at almost any speed, is fast in a roll and has an effective air brake. To help out, its wing pylons can mount up to 6 x all-aspect AIM-9L Sidewinders for those short-range engagements, or a pair of AIM-7F Sparrows for long-range engagements. In addition to this, this aircraft is also equipped with advanced electronics, an excellent radar, an RWR and a pair of fast-firing 20 mm M39A3 cannons, which have a good ammunition count and are mounted in the nose of this aircraft. For defense against in-coming missiles, there’s also a total of 45 flares and chaff that can be launched, and last but not least, a 30 mm gun pod can also be mounted.



Just like the F-5 series, the F-20A is not going to be out of place in ground battles, as this aircraft can drop regular bombs and fire rockets from low-altitudes. The cream of the crop though is its guided bombs in the form of 4 x AGM-65B air-to-ground missiles with a TV guidance head, best used from a higher altitude outside of the range of SAM vehicles that are commonly present at this rank.

In short, the F-20A is going to become one of the best vehicles in our store and will be available in the game with the release of the next major update. Don’t miss your chance to pre-order this awesome jet fighter to receive a special red and white camouflage, a decal, a unique in-game title, premium account days and Golden Eagles!

• The Battlepass challenge “Thunder from Heaven” that required the use of stealth belts now requires belts that contain no tracers.

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.

We’re pleased to announce that the Hungarian aircraft line is going to be added to the Italian aircraft tree in the next major update called Alpha Strike, which continues the development of Hungarian vehicles being added to the game. Let’s dive in and take a look!

[expand type=details]
Initially the Hungarian Air Force was founded in 1918 where it was made up of aircraft left over from WWI. In 1920 however, the Treaty of Trianon was signed between Hungary and the Allies that prevented Hungary from producing and using any aircraft. Despite this, they still opted to rebuild their air force in secret where it was eventually discovered in 1938 that this had been going on.

Hungary fought in several WWII battles including the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and the Invasion of Yugoslavia where their air force took part mostly using German and Italian aircraft. Hungary’s highest scoring Ace of WWII was Dezső Szentgyörgyi, having had 30 confirmed victories against Soviet and U.S. aircraft.

After WWII and the Battle for Hungary in 1945, Soviet influence played a significant role in the country. Hungary was given several WWII-era aircraft that had survived the war, including the Yak-9P, Tu-2 and IL-10 which remained in service into the 50s. This was until moving to Soviet jet fighters such as the MiG-15, MiG-17 and MiG-29 that were used throughout the Cold War. Currently, Hungary’s flagship jet fighter is the JAS39C which has been in service since the early 2000s.
[/expand]

We’ve prepared a selection of interesting aircraft from WWII and the Cold War. Take a look at what’s awaiting you in this line!

Some of Hungary’s WWII aircraft were delivered to the Hungarian Air Force after the end of the war. First up is the famous Yak-9P and IL-10, as well as the Tu-2 bomber. These Soviet classics are going to bring the powerful 37 mm and 20 mm cannons, plus FAB bombing options that can be enjoyed in different game modes!




As for post-war, the Hungarian Air Force operated several interesting aircraft that are coming to the game: the MiG-15bis, MiG-17PF, IL-28, MiG-21MF, MiG-21bis-SAU, MiG-23MF, Su-22M3 and the MiG-29 9-12B! It’s these aircraft that are going to play a key role in enhancing Italy’s ground force lineups and will complement Hungarian tanks that are already in the game thanks to their additional bomb attacking options. In addition to this, they’re going to be fun in air battles thanks to their great top speeds and great air-to-air missile capability!





To top it all off is the JAS39C which is going to become the flagship jet for the Hungarian line! Still in service with the Hungarian Air Force today, this aircraft is going to be the one you’re going to want to get. Fast, maneuverable and the option for different types of air and bomb attack weapons including 6 x AIM-9M’s is exactly what you can look forward to.




This is just the start, as we have plans to implement other Hungarian aircraft in the future as well!

Make sure that you take a look at the addition of Hungarian aircraft in the Italian tree in the next major update called Alpha Strike, which is the first major of 2024, as there’s plenty to research and have fun with. With that, we’ve reached the end of this dev blog — stay tuned to the news where we’ll be unveiling other exciting vehicles that will soon be arriving!

The next major update for War Thunder — “Alpha Strike”!

 
On March 1st, Wales celebrates St. David’s Day! On this day, parades and music festivals take place all around the country, as well as the wearing of the daffodil and leek. We’re joining in by temporarily bringing back the Welsh flag decal for the first time since 2016.

This flag is available for 500 Golden Eagles over the weekend period.



“Wales” flag decal

We’ve got more to talk about regarding the work on improvements and bug fixes to the game over the past 2 weeks! Let’s take a look at what we’ve been working on.

If you’ve found a bug that you’d like to report, you can do so on our community bug reporting platform.




We recently spoke about this mechanic in a separate news post here. Briefly, this mechanic rewards both the player who inflicted severe damage, and the player who destroyed this enemy aircraft. A test for this mechanic happened last week and now we’ve enabled it for aircraft in all game modes!

In the previous It’s Fixed update, we released a new HUD that was specific to the “Battle” mode for ground forces which featured a better indicator with the number of vehicles destroyed and time left. Thanks for the feedback that you’ve provided on this. We’ve gone ahead and made some cosmetic changes to further improve this HUD.

We’ve now made the animation when a vehicle is destroyed to be more simple, so that it’s not as distracting as before: it’ll now only blink once when there’s a destruction instead of pulsate. We’ve also made some changes to the capture point icon: being directly on a capture point is now indicated, with the icon becoming larger. The colors, outline and background of the capture point icon have been improved in general as well as when capturing a point, to help with readability overall.

In addition to this interface improvement, we’ve added an additional window to let you know if you’re sure you want to enable the ability to research helicopters with ground vehicles. This has been added because players have accidentally enabled this option without knowing, causing many to become confused as to why no research was going towards their ground vehicles. This additional window will help to avoid these situations.




Also in the previous It’s Fixed, we made some changes to active scouting on ground vehicles, and since then there’s been another improvement.

You know those times when you were going to scout an enemy, but right before pressing the scout button, the enemy you had in your sights was engaged by an ally and destroyed. Since you scouted right at that moment, your active scouting gets a lengthy cool-down as it was counted as a miss.

We’ve reduced this timer if this occurs: if an enemy was destroyed less than 1 second ago, your active scout will not be counted as a miss, which means you’ll be able to scout again after 6 seconds — the same amount of time for a successful scout — rather than 45 seconds.




Several Swedish aircraft had no tracer rounds in their belts, which meant there wasn’t a separate stealth belt as it was not needed. This made shooting difficult for these aircraft, so we’ve decided to add the type 5876 armor-piercing tracer round to the existing belts for the Akan m/55 cannon, and a separate stealth belt to this gun as well on the following aircraft: SAAB-105G, SAAB-105OE, AJ37, AJS37, J29D, J32B, J35A, J35XS, J35D and SK60B.

We’ve also expanded the range of belts available to the GSh-30 cannon. All Mi-24 helicopters and Su-25 aircraft will now be able to use stealth belts.

The full list of improvements can be found in each separate update note. Here’s some others: Aircraft without horizontal stabilizers no longer receive severe damage from any type of hit, gun stabilization in the rear hemisphere of a tank has been corrected, and the correct grid square is now announced in voiceover when an artillery strike is made.

• Update 2.33.0.145
  
• Update 2.33.0.135
  
• Update 2.33.0.132

• The Severe Damage mechanic carried over from the previous Roadmap has now been added to all gamemodes for aircraft.

• A bug with the gun stabilizer which caused them work with a delay when moving the gun horizontally in the rear hemisphere has been fixed.
  
• VT-4A1, Black Night — a bug causing the APS launchers to sometimes make an extra rotation when activated has been fixed.
  
• A bug where leaving a fighter during an air event in Ground Arcade Battles caused ground vehicle markers to appear to a spectating player has been fixed.

• F-111A — missing limitation on wing folding when attaching underwing 20 mm cannons in the Dynamic Campaign mode has been fixed.
  
• For the Akan m/55 gun, the type 5876 armor-piercing tracer round has been added to the ammunition range. A stealth belt for the Akan m/55 gun has been added to the following aircraft: SAAB-105G, SAAB-105OE, AJ37, AJS37, J29D, J32B, J35A Saab, J35XS, J35D, SK60B.
  
• Mi-24P (all variants), Su-25 (all variants) — a stealth belt has been added to the GSh-30 cannon.
  
• A bug where aircraft without horizontal stabilzers received severe damage from any hit has been fixed. (Report)

• A bug where the reload time for main caliber guns increased up to 2 times when a feed elevator was destroyed has been fixed.
  
• A bug where the aiming indicator remained visible while torpedoes were being reloaded has been fixed.

• The new “Battle” mode HUD has been improved:
  
  • The destroyed vehicle counter animation has been simplified;
    
  • Indication of when a player is at a capture point has been added;
    
  • The color of the font, outline and background of the capture points has been changed so that they are similar to the spatial HUD (font and outline to black, background to white) for better readability of capture point progress;
    
  • Thickness of the outline for a capture point has been reduced for better readability of the capture progress.
• A confirmation window when enabling the “Researching of helicopters playing ground vehicles” option has been added.
  
• A bug that caused crew qualifications to not be updated in the crew window after purchasing an expert or ace crew has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused an unobtainable camouflage to be shown in the modification window after unlocking all camouflages for a vehicle has been fixed.
  
• A bug where flag tooltip background in the customization window could have been smaller than the flag itself has been fixed.

• A bug causing the voiceover to say an incorrect grid square and number when calling an artillery strike 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.

In this blog we’ll be talking about the most advanced variant of the Buccaneer that will soon be taking to the skies in War Thunder: meet the Buccaneer S.2B!


Features:

• AIM-9L missiles.
  
• Laser-guided bombs.
  
• Internal Countermeasures.
  
• Large payload.

Vehicle History
[expand type=details]
Initially intended for the Royal Navy, the RAF showed little interest in the Buccaneer until the cancellation of both TSR-2 and the RAF’s own version of the Aardvark, the F-111K, led to a decision to adopt the Buccaneer into service to fill a gap in capabilities. This coincided with the gradual retirement of Aircraft Carriers from the Royal Navy freeing up aircraft that could be provided to the RAF, as well as new build aircraft to the S.2B standard. This variant would initially see an enlarged “bulged” bomb bay and the capacity for Martel Anti-Ship missiles.

Operation Pulsator, supporting British forces in Lebanon in 1983, would see a further significant upgrade for the Buccaneer, introducing internal countermeasures to the aircraft for better self defence. AIM-9G and AIM-9L capability was also added, a notable improvement over earlier AIM-9Bs on earlier S.2s.

Despite its age, the Buccaneer would however still prove its worth as late as the 1991 Gulf War, acting as a laser designator aircraft for Tornado GR.1s to deliver their laser guided bombs before early TIALD pods became available for operations. Later in the conflict, Buccaneers would themselves take part in direct bombing attacks.

Initially not planned to take part in “Operation Granby”, a handful of Buccaneer S.2Bs from No.12, 208 and 237 OCU were rushed over to the Gulf, hastily repainted in “Desert Pink” and equipped now with AIM-9Ls and Pave Spike pods. The pilots that would operate them dubbed themselves the “Sky Pirates” and were famous for their skull and crossbones flag and colourful nose art adorning many of the aircraft that took part.

The Tornado would however fully replace the last Buccaneers in service shortly after the Gulf War, covering all roles that it had previously maintained. The last Buccaneers would bow out of service with the RAF in 1994, 36 years after the first Buccaneer took to the skies.

[/expand]



In the next major update, the RAF’s Buccaneer S.2B variant will be joining the Strike aircraft line of the British tree, taking its place at Rank VII and filling a noticeable gap. This variant of the Buccaneer addresses many of the shortcomings of the previous variant, improving both defensive and offensive capabilities. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer!

Firstly, the S.2B has both internally mounted countermeasures and also more of them in total. Unlike the previous version, you won’t have to use valuable wing stations in order to have protection from missile threats. This means you can instead use those pylons for more strike weaponry, or the expanded Sidewinder arsenal this variant offers with both the AIM-9G and L available.

Interesting: Buccaneers in the Gulf War that were originally based in RAF Lossiemouth, flown by the “Sky Pirates”, were aptly named for their Scottish heritage after Malt Whiskeys adorned on the side of the aircraft.

The other key focus of this Buccaneer is its precision air-to-ground loadouts. Armed with a Pave Spike targeting pod, the S.2B can deploy Paveway II bombs as well as the regular conventional bomb types found on the previous variant. This gives a noticeable level of flexibility, allowing you some degree of standoff against more dangerous targets from a far, all while retaining the capacity to come in afterwards with conventional bombs and take full advantage of the CCIP system onboard. Lastly, the S.2B offers Martel anti-ship missiles for larger targets that really require a sizable strike!

In your matches by Scott, Community Manager: “The Buccaneer is a real personal favourite of mine thanks to its distinctive character. The S.2B rounds off the aircraft family nicely as a perfect CAS choice for many ground lineups surrounding the Challenger Is, and offers some significant improvements over the existing variant available in the tree. The internal countermeasures widen your strike options and mean you don't have to choose between Sidewinders and Flares/Chaff anymore. Whilst you still should not directly seek out combat with other aircraft, having that extra defence and the all-aspect offence really improves your chances in tricky situations. Use your Paveways to deal with SPAA/SAMs and keep out of harm’s way as much as possible, following up with your standard bombs. Armed with both guided bombs and AIM-9L missiles, it can strike hard, keep itself reasonably well defended and still make it home safely for tea!”

This improved Buccaneer variant will shortly be joining the ranks of the British tree, bridging the gap between the earlier Buccaneer S.2 and Tornado GR.1. As always, stay tuned to the news to see what else we have lined up for the next major update in War Thunder. Until then, enjoy your battles!