Meet Dance of Dragons, War Thunder’s third 2024 major update that features brand-new vehicles, quality of life additions and plenty of bug fixes. Welcome the first domestic aircraft from Switzerland to the game through the addition of the player-made premium P-16 strike aircraft for Germany! Next up is China, who’s received the JF-17 squadron vehicle and Al-Khalid-I premium tank from Pakistan, plus the superb J-10A fighter jet. The USA now has the T1E1 with a 90 mm cannon, as well as the F-111F bomber and AV-8B (Night Attack) Harrier variant as a premium, plus the USS Tennessee battleship. The excellent Stormer AD has joined Great Britain as an SPAA, plus the Australian F-111C bomber, with the USSR getting the fast-firing Su-24M. Besides this, the CTWV RCV for Japan and CV9035NL for France are now obtainable squadron vehicles! Last but not least, France has now received their Coastal fleet tree now in closed testing, one interesting boat is the La Combattante that can fire SS.11 missiles!




Please feel free to leave your feedback on this Major update in the feedback thread here.

We’ve introduced a variety of interesting ground vehicles across several nations in this update. The US now has the T1E1 with an experimental 90 mm cannon, and Sweden now has the premium Finnish KV-1 m1942 with excellent armor! Moving onto Germany who now have the Puma with Spike missiles, to Great Britain who now have the Stinger and GAU-12 rotary-cannon capable Stormer AD for use against aircraft and tanks. Two new squadron vehicles, the CTWV RCV for Japan and Dutch CV9035NL for France are here, ready to be obtained through squadron points. Last but not least, we’ve updated the visual models of the M41A1, ZTZ99A, T-80U-E1 and Freccia, with the latter two receiving a new camouflage net and optics respectively.


Al-Khalid-I (pack)
For aircraft, there’s several additions spanning across multiple nations. Germany has received the P-16 from Switzerland, created by two War Thunder players as part of the revenue share program, with help from the Swiss Air Force Center in Dübendorf and the Swiss community. China has received the JF-17 squadron vehicle, a joint-development aircraft from Pakistan and China, plus the excellent modern J-10A fighter jet. Several top-ranking attack aircraft have joined three trees in the form of the F-111F and F-111C (from Australia) for the US and Great Britain and the almighty Su-24M for the USSR that has an insane rate of fire (seriously, check it out!). Lastly, Italy now has the Tornado IDS, Israel the F-16C Barak II and France the Dutch Sea Fury FB 51 and premium Sea Hawk Mk.50!

FAA P-16 (Pack)

In this update, French Coastal fleet closed testing has started. If you’d like to join, you can purchase the VLT-2 Pack or take part in the closed testing tasks. France now has an entire Coastal fleet line, with one interesting addition being the La Combattante that’s capable of firing SS.11 missiles! The full list of French boats can be seen below. The US now has the almighty USS Tennessee that has huge 356 mm cannons, Germany and USSR the SMS Derfflinger and Izmail battlecruisers, Japan the PT-802 and potent IJN Amagi, Great Britain the Australian HMAS Fremantle and Italy the MAS 441.



There’s no new location in Dance of Dragons, but we have updated several existing locations and missions. First off is a new [Domination #2] Eastern Europe mission that has the C cap point on the other side of the river and A and B slightly moved. In terms of location updates, 38th Parallel, Kuban, Iberian Castle, Second battle of El Alamein and Eastern Europe have had several changes in terms of the adjustment of rocks, lakes, houses and spawn shoot-throughs. 

Lastly, [Domination] Eastern Europe has had its bridges destroyed, blocking positions to the northern side of the river. This updated mission is for low Battle Ratings, below 4.0. Be sure to check out the full details in the changelog itself.


We’ve made some quality of life improvements to the game’s interface. The secondary weapons menu has now been moved to the bottom of the screen, which now means the changing of ordnance on an aircraft can be seen and is also updated instantly in real-time. Depending on the weight of the ordnance, you’ll see the aircraft move and get heavier when changing preset as well.



The period where new vehicles are counted as “new” has been increased from 14 to 28 days, meaning any new vehicle marked with a golden strip on them doesn’t block the research of the vehicle after it for much longer than before.

For the X-ray section of the interface, the addition of an X-ray part filter has been added. The X-ray part filter will only show certain parts, depending on what you select — great if you want to only focus on one module inside a vehicle and see it in more detail, all while hiding others you don’t want to see.




Radio distortion from ground crews has been subtly reduced, making their voices more clearer. Our sound engineers have also implemented muffled sound effects when a cockpit canopy is opened at high speeds, as flying with the cockpit open previously gave a hearing advantage.

We’ve added some cool customization options to several areas of the game. Firstly, all modern South African ground vehicles have been given a dark green camouflage as an additional Golden Eagle unlock, ensuring those vehicles have a relevant camo option on forest maps. Italian ground vehicles have also been given a post-war camouflage, and the “Tricolor late camouflage pattern” for post-war Italian ground vehicles has been fixed.



One new addition is the coloring of camouflage nets. Camouflage nets for the Vextra 105 and T-80U-E1 will now match the color of the camouflage selected on these vehicles. Over time, vehicles that have camouflage nets will receive proper coloring based on the camouflage selected too.


And finally, the texture of drop-tanks now correctly changes and corresponds to the selected camouflage that you’ve selected for your aircraft.



A point from the 2024 Roadmap has been implemented: custom tank sights! We’ve added a button called “Sight settings” to the Ground vehicle Battle Settings, where clicking this will open a new screen where you can customize to your heart’s content. Be it the sight itself, plus brand-new additions such as the rangefinder, turret rotation, sight field of view and shot readiness indicators to show in the sight — all features of modern tank sights. There’s a visual background that you can toggle, as well as see how it looks in thermal and at night. Full details in our blog here.



We’ve also refined helicopter damage models, with the addition of avionic systems, weapons control, night vision devices, countermeasure systems and radar equipment modules. For the AH-64s and Ka-52, new fully detailed damage models have been added. For all other helicopters, all systems are temporarily integrated into the damage model of a fuselage as a whole until a detailed damage model with separate modules responsible for their functionality are added. Overall this will mean less empty space in helicopters, and besides this, the damage model of tail tear offs on fuselage and tail impacts against the ground and other objects has been improved. We’ll be releasing fully-detailed dev blogs on these changes as well as all other Roadmap points soon.


Items marked with * will be added to the game in one of the upcoming updates.

That’s all for this post, but be sure to check out the full list of changes in the provided changelog, as there’s many bug fixes, improvements and additional vehicle changes not mentioned here.

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Please see the full changelog here.

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In this update we have made at least 63 changes or bugfixes due to player-submitted reports. Thank you for taking part in the project!

• A new [Domination #2] Eastern Europe mission has been added for battles at a Battle Rating of 4.0 and higher.

• 38th Parallel — a position in the grid square E7 (a ledge near the map border), where it was possible to shoot at the spawn point in grid square A6 has been blocked.
  
• Kuban — rocks in the B3 grid square where tanks could get stuck have been removed.
  
• Iberian Castle — used pines have been replaced with ones more suitable for the region (the size and shape of the tree crown has been changed).
  
• Second battle of El Alamein — the depth of the lakes near the spawn point of the right based team has been reduced so they can be crossed by a ground vehicle. A position on the junction between grid squares C5/C6/D5/D6 which allowed firing at the spawn point in squares A3/A4 has been blocked.
  
• Eastern Europe — a few houses have been removed near the spawn point in grid square F2 to make exiting easier. Some pits and piles of debris have been removed in grid squares F3/E3.
  
• [Domination] Eastern Europe — the bridges in the mission are now destroyed, thus blocking the positions on the northern side of the river. This mission is available in battles at a Battle Rating of 4.0 and lower.

• XM975, Roland 1, FlaRakPz 1, ItO 90M (all variants), Imp. Chaparral (all variants), ADATS, ADATS (XM113), Tor-M1, 2S6, ZSU-23-4 (all variants) — new internal modules have been added.
  
• KPz-70, MBT-70, XM803, CCVL, HSTV-L, XM-8 — an autoloader module has been added to the damage model.
  
• AMX-13-90 — the weight of the OCC 90-62 shell has been reduced from 8.95 to 3.65 kg.
  
• G6 — the HP and RPM have been increased from 518 to 550 HP and 2100 to 2300 RPM.
  
• Vextra 105 — the wrongly present OE 105 F3 shell has been replaced with a new HE shell, the OE 105-60.
  
• 2C bis — the gun mantlet armor thickness has been increased from 35 mm to 50 mm.
  
• 2C bis — the gun depression and elevation angles have been changed from -10/10 to -15/20 degrees.
  
• Desert Warrior — the gun depression and elevation angles have been changed from -8/60 to -7/59 degrees.
  
• Type 81 (C) — a third crew member has been added.
  
• SK-105A2, JaPz.K A2 — the number and shape of the fuel tanks have been corrected.
  
• SK-105A2, JaPz.K A2 — the partition separating the driver has been removed.
  
• BT-5, RBT-5, BT-7, BT-7A (F-32), BT-42 — the location of the fuel tanks has been corrected.
  
• T55E1 — the turning mechanism of the 2 front pairs of wheels has been changed. The turns are now done by turning the whole frontal carriage instead of turning individual wheels.
  
• leKPz M41 — the tracks have been replaced with physical ones.
  
• M1128 — the composite screens have been converted to volumetric armor.
  
• Namer 30 — vehicle mass has been increased from from 61 to 64.4 tons.
  
• A.C.I — internal partition armor has been moved from Armor view to X-ray view.
  
• Somua SM — maximum speed has been increased from 40 to 50 km/h.
  
• ADATS — with the update of internal modules, the ammunition for the 25 mm gun has been reduced from 600 to 200 rounds.
  
• HSTV-L — the XM884 76 mm HE shell with a radio fuze has been added. Automatic target tracking (ATT) functionality has been added.
  
• Type 98 Ke-Ni — maximum speed has been increased from 40 km/h to 50 km/h.
  
• XM800T — maximum reverse speed has been increased from 13.9 km/h to 43 km/h.
  
• FIAT 6614 (M40A1) — elevation angles have been changed from -10\+12 to -17\+65 degrees.
  
• SPz 12-3 LGS — elevation angles have been changed from -5\+13 to -17\+65 degrees.
  
• Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. E, Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. F, Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. J — turret rotation speed has been increased from 12 to 14°\s.
  
• 2C — the following changes have been made to the Mle1916 shell: muzzle velocity has been increased from 500 m/s to 558 m/s, mass has been increased from 7.2 kg to 7.445 kg, and HE filler mass has been increased from 285 g to 350 g.
  
• Comet I (all variants) — muzzle velocity of the Shell Mk.1 HE shell has been decreased from 754 m/s to 495 m/s.
  
• AMX-30 DCA — engine power has been decreased from 720 to 650 hp.
  
• Vextra 105 — muzzle velocity of the OFL 105 F1 when shot from the CN 105 G2 has been reduced from 1525 m/s to 1500 m/s.
  
• Vextra 105 — used HE shell type has been changed from OE 105 F3 to OE 105 60.
  
• AML-90 (all variants) — muzzle velocity of OE 90 F1 shell has been increased from 640 to 650 m/s.
  
• AML-90 (all variants) — turret traverse speed has been decreased from 25 to 18 deg/s.
  
• Merkava Mk.1, Merkava Mk.1B, Merkava Mk.2 B (all variants), Merkava Mk.2D — engine power has been reduced from 963 to 900 hp.

• Ki-84 — 100 kg bombs have been added.
  
• SB2C-1C — a 1,600 lb AN-MK.1 armor-piercing bomb and 2 x 1,000 lb AN-MK 33 armor-piercing bombs have been added.
  
• SB2C-4, SB2C-5 — 2 x 1000 lb AN-MK 33 armor-piercing bombs have been added.
  
• A-26B-10, A-26B-50, A-26C-45, A-26C-45DT — 4 x 1000 lb AN-MK 33 armor-piercing bombs have been added.
  
• Buccaneer S.2B — 500 lb Mk.82 AIR retarded bombs have been added.
  
• Spitfire LF Mk IX — 500 lb AN-M64 and S.A.P Mk.II bombs have been added.
  
• Sea Harrier FA 2 — Mk.M2 540 lb bombs have been added.
  
• F-20A — the total number of rounds for the 20 mm M39A3 guns has been reduced from 560 to 460.
  
• Lincoln B Mk II — 4,000 lb, 8,000 lb and 12,000 lb bombs have been added.
  
• Ki-49 (all variants) — an additional 500 kg bomb has been added.
  
• Lightning F.53 — H.E. M.C. Mk.1 No.118 540 lb bombs have been added.
  
• B-25J-30 (USSR) — additional variants with 2 x FAB-500 + 4 x FAB-250 and 8 x FAB-250 bomb loadouts have been added.
  
• Jaguar GR.1A — a 540 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.1 No.118 retarded bomb has been added.
  
• Mirage 2000D-R1 — 2 x BGL-400 guided bombs have been added.
  
• F-104G (Germany) — a 2000 lb Mk 84 bomb has been added.
  
• AH-1Z — the AGM-114B Hellfire has been replaced with the AGM-114K Hellfire II.
  
• Yak-9K, Yak-9UT, TIS MA, Su-8, Tu-1 — armor-piercing high-explosive ammunition, as well as armor-piercing belts for aircraft armed with the NS-45 cannon have been added.
  
• F-104C — the ability to carry 2 additional AIM-9B missiles under the fuselage pylons has been added.
  
• IL-28 (China), Tu-4 (China) — FAB-100, FAB-250, FAB-500, FAB-1500, and FAB-3000 bombs have been replaced with 100-2, 250-2, 500-2, 1500-2, 3000-2 bombs respectively.
  
• Q-5 early — the ability to use 2 x 100-2 bombs has been added.
  
• J-7II — FAB-500 bombs have been replaced with 500-2 bombs.
  
• Spitfire Mk.IX (CW) (Israel) — the ability to use 8-cm Flz.-Rakete Oerlikon rockets and AN-M57 bombs has been added.
  
• P-63A-10, P-63C-5 — the ability to use M8 rockets has been added.
  
• Pe-8 — the following amounts of ammo have been increased: for the 12.7 mm UBT turrets in the landing gear from 200 to 400; for the 20 mm ShVAK turret on top of the fuselage from 200 to 440; for the 20 mm ShVAK turret in the tail from 230 to 430.
  
• Canberra B.Mk.2 — an additional set of 2 x 4,000 lb H.C. Mk.IV bombs has been added.
  
• AV-8B Plus (all variants) — GBU-38 JDAM bombs and the modification for them have been added.
  
• Su-27SM — the ability to carry additional underfuselage R-77 missiles has been added.
  
• F-16D Barak II, Baz Meshupar — GBU-31 JDAM guided bombs have been added.
  
• F-15C MSIP II, F-16C, F-16A (France), F-16AM (France), F-14B, JAS-39 (all versions) — GBU-38 and GBU-31 guided bombs have been added.
  
• JH-7A — LS-6 250 and LS-6 500 guided bombs have been added.
  
• MiG-29SMT — KAB-500S guided bombs have been added.
  
• Su-25SM3 — S-25L missiles have been replaced by the S-25LD version.
  
• Damage model of bombs has been changed, previously overestimated resistance to shrapnel hits has been reduced. This change will increase the probability of destruction of bombs when hit by shrapnel of SAM and will make the interception easier.

• Soukou-Tei No.4 — the rate of fire of the Type 89 machine gun has been increased from 600 rpm to 700 rpm.
  
• RN Andrea Doria — the maximum elevation angles for the 40 mm mounts have been fixed.
  
• LS 3, VS-8, VS-10 — the max ammo count for the 15 mm autocannons has been fixed.
  
• Bretagne, Lorraine — the maximum elevation angle of the main battery guns has been increased from 18 to 23 degrees.

• A naval minimap is now being displayed when flying reconnaissance aircraft launched from a ship.
  
• In Arcade Battles, a round marker for fire control system data refresh has been replaced with a progress bar, just like in Realistic Battles.

• The period where new vehicles are counted as “new” has been increased from 14 to 28 days. During that period, any new vehicles are marked with a golden strip on them and they don’t block the research of the vehicle after it.

• The ability to change the texture of drop-tanks when creating camouflages has been added.
  
• A “Basic green camouflage” for South African ground vehicles has been added.
  
• A tricolor camouflage has been added for post-war Italian ground vehicles.
  
• The pattern of the “Tricolor late camouflage pattern” for post-war Italian ground vehicles has been fixed.
  
• The color scheme of North African tricolor camouflage has been corrected.
  
• For camouflages where change of condition, scale and rotation are not available, the corresponding tools are now disabled and a warning has been added.
  
• The following changes have been made to the nation challenge achievements:
  
  • Achievements can now only be obtained with vehicles that belong to a specific nation. Vehicles with the same name from another nation will no longer be added to achievements. For example, the achievement “Bf.109 German Ace” can only be completed with aircraft from the German aviation research tree and not with captured aircraft from the US and Japanese aviation research trees.
    
  • The nation indicating the vehicle’s ownership has been added to the achievement names.
    
  • The missing vehicle by nation has been added to the completion conditions.After October 15th, vehicles that do not belong to the nation specified in the title will be removed from achievements.
• A new mechanic for coloring camouflage nets to the tank’s camouflage has been added. Currently it is available on two vehicles: Vextra 105 and T-80U-E1.

• Following the Roadmap: A sight settings menu has been added. It can be accessed from the Ground vehicle Battle Settings menu by pressing the “Sight settings” button. In this new menu, you can select a reticle from the preset or custom ones, add and move some elements wherever you want. The following indicators can be added and some of them can be moved: the rangefinder, reload timer, turret position indicator and a frame showing the field of view at maximum zoom. The colors of all these elements can be changed taking into account the sight backlight state and the current channel (visible light, night vision, thermal vision). The selection of suitable colors is helped by the ability to switch backlight state, current channel and 4 maps in the background with different conditions, and as a result a different color palette. The menu also has ready-made sight presets that can be saved to a vehicle right away or edited if wanted.
  
• This is just the first version of this menu as we already have plans for further improvements to it. We would like to thank the authors on WT Live, as some of the preset sighting reticles are part of their work included in the game. We hope that they will continue to create awesome sights that everyone can download from WT Live and use in the game for their own pleasure.
  
• The Secondary weapons menu has been changed: The window with a list of weaponry presets has been made smaller and moved to the lower part of the screen. Camera settings have been changed. Now the aircraft can be seen when selecting different weapon presets and when making new ones. All changes are reflected on the aircraft in real time without it flickering.
  
• The ability to display radar altitude has been added to the aircraft HUD. Switching between the indicated altitudes is done via “Indicated altitude” parameter in the “Air Battle Settings” category. It is possible to choose just one of the altitude types — either barometric or radar, as well as both of them at the same time.
  
• Information about the calculated (maximum, with an accurate hit) damage to bases for bombing and the reward multiplier for this damage (the multiplier applies to SL, RP and mission points) has been added to the description of secondary weapons for aircraft.
  
• Bombs that have their mass specified in pounds now also have mass in kilograms displayed in the brackets after the mass in pounds.
  
• The ability to filter by module parts has been added to the X-ray view of ground and naval vehicles in the hangar.
  
• Rookie trophies in the in-game Item Shop are now grayed out and cannot be purchased if the player already has the vehicle in the trophy on their account.
  
• A discount indication has been added for pack vehicles. Now these vehicles will have an icon with the discount value when there is a sale in the store.
  
• A display of max thrust on shafts has been added to the x-ray tooltip for helicopter engines.

• Following the Roadmap: detailed damage models have been added to helicopters. It’s possible to disable avionic systems, weapons control, night vision devices, countermeasure systems and radar equipment. For all AH-64 helicopters and the Ka-52, new detailed damage model modules corresponding to various systems have been added (when hovering over a module with the cursor, the information on what the selected module is responsible for is displayed). For other helicopters, all systems are temporarily integrated into the damage model of the fuselage as a whole, until a detailed damage model with separate modules responsible for their functionality are added. The damage model of tail separation during strong impacts of the fuselage and tail impacts when hitting the ground or other objects has been improved.

• The effect of radio distortion for ground vehicle crews has been reduced, speech has become intelligible. The effects of radio interference for tank crew communications have been removed. The radio effect only remains when the commander communicates with external characters (artillery, aviation, etc.).
  
• Now, when flying an aircraft from cockpit view at high speeds, an open canopy/cockpit door will cause external sounds to be muffled by the wind and become indistinguishable.

Today we’ll take a look at the Stormer Air Defence, featuring a new type of turret placed onto a Stormer chassis, providing 25 mm GAU-12U and Stinger firepower against planes and helicopters, plus a 7.62 mm machine gun.


At a glance:

• 25 mm GAU-12U cannon with 1,800 RPM, but only 500 rounds in total.
  
• 2 x Stinger missiles ready to launch with 6 extras stowed!
  
• Stinger missiles include the FIM-92E (default) and FIM-92K (unlocked through a modification).
  
• Same chassis as the Stormer HVM with 80 km/h max speed.

Vehicle History
[expand type=details]
The Stormer Air Defence was a technology demonstrator that was first shown at the British Army Equipment Exhibition in 1984. This vehicle was developed by British company Alvis Ltd. in an attempt to create a modular air defence system based on the already proven Alvis Stormer platform. It featured a General Electric Modular Weapon System (also known as a Blazer turret) that could either fit a 25 mm or 30 mm cannon, two Stinger missile launchers, a 7.62 mm machine gun, smoke grenade launchers and a RA-20 S search radar. At least one technology demonstrator was built, but information regarding the amount of interest shown from potential buyers and the fate of the demonstrator is relatively unknown. Regardless, the Stormer Air Defence did not go into production.
[/expand]


This is the Stormer Air Defence, a technology demonstrator created by Alvis that’s capable of taking out helicopters and planes in ground battles, and even some ground vehicles if you’re feeling lucky. A 25 mm GAU-12U cannon is all you need for this, plus some Stinger missiles when your aim with the gun is having an off-day. All coming in the Dance of Dragons major update — let’s take a look!




If you’re a British ground forces player, you’ll understand the lack of guns for SPAAs at the higher ranks on the Stormer HVM and ADATS (M113) for example. You’re not going to lack this on the Stormer Air Defence though, as this vehicle features the 25 mm GAU-12U cannon that has 5 barrels and a rate of fire of 1,800 rounds per minute! For those who have played LAV-AD, you’ll know that this gun is capable of absolutely destroying helicopters and aircraft, however at shorter ranges only; avoid using this gun at longer ranges, as the lack of bullet spread is going to make hitting targets difficult. This cannon is also useful for taking out enemy ground vehicles by shooting them at the sides, especially MBTs and weakly armored IFVs!

That brings us perfectly onto the type of missiles that the Stormer Air Defence has and what can be used for longer ranges. This vehicle features two launchers for FIM-92E or K Stinger missiles that have a launch range up to a max of 5 km, and there’s 8 in total — 2 ready to launch and 6 stowed. These missiles are good for taking down planes and helicopters that are at medium to long distances outside of the cannon’s closer-range capability.




Onto misc features of this vehicle now. The Stormer Air Defence features a ESD RA-20-S search radar, which is capable of tracking targets for firing the Stinger missiles, as well as for auto-locking with the 25 mm GAU-12U cannon. This vehicle also has smoke grenade launchers fitted on the turret and hull, perfect for hiding yourself from several enemy aircraft trying to counter you at once. To round it off, a 7.62 mm machine gun is mounted on the turret, good for knocking down bushes, fences and smaller trees. Obviously you can use the 25 mm for this, but you may not want to do that especially with the low ammo count and it not being a particularly subtle weapon — the less attention you draw to yourself the better!

Did you know? The Stormer chassis was used for a variety of different roles; the anti-air Stormer HVM, Flat-bed Stormer for the Shielder minelaying system, and tech demos such as the Stormer Air Defence (this vehicle!).



The chassis is very familiar to the British ground forces tree. In fact, it’s the exact same chassis that the Stormer HVM uses. Its max speed of 80 km/h is excellent for getting to positions and hunkering down to prey on and ambush enemy aircraft. Its armor is light aluminum alloy and good enough for protecting against small machine gun fire, but any autocannons will shred the 3 crew members — 2 of which are located in the turret that has very low protection values.

One small note on the chassis. The model and visuals themselves are slightly different compared to the Stormer HVM’s — the exhaust goes upwards, the antennas are on the turret instead, and some other misc items, such as fire extinguishers and the mirrors are in slightly different positions. This is in-line with photographs of the Stormer Air Defence at the British Army Equipment Exhibition in 1984.



That’s today’s blog! The Stormer Air Defence is going to provide Britain with some extra and different anti-aircraft fire-power nearer to the top ranks when it comes to the game in the Dance of Dragons major update. The update is close now. Until then, happy battles ahead!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.

Can be purchased through the store in-game. Shop > Online Store
Price: $120 $59.99
This bundle includes:

• Reaper Pack
  
• AMX A-1 Pack
  
• Unique title: "Wings that protect"

Brazil celebrates Independence Day on September 7th, and this year the largest South American country turns 202 years old. We’re marking this date with a new cinematic video from the Moments of Valor series dedicated to Brazil.

Additionally in honor of this day, we’ve created a bundle with a 50% discount that features two aircraft used by the Brazilian Air Force, the AMX A-1 and Meteor Reaper attack aircraft. By purchasing this bundle, you’ll receive the unique 1st Fighter Group camouflage created by the player BHmaster for the Meteor Reaper, as well as the “Wings that protect” title. You can also purchase both packs separately with a 30% discount, by doing this you will only receive the camouflage for the Meteor Reaper.

This bundle will be available until September 16th (09:00 GMT). This offer is only valid for PC players.

• Players on all platforms who already own the Meteor Reaper (or purchased it during the event for Golden Eagles) can earn the camouflage by playing 3 battles with the Meteor Reaper before September 16th.
  
• Players on all platforms who already own the AMX A-1 can also earn the title by playing 3 battles with the AMX A-1 before September 16th.

Additionally, the following camouflages are available in-game for Golden Eagles:

• P-47D-28 (USA) — livery of Lieutenant Pedro de Lima Mendes from the Italian campaign, where Brazilian pilots took part. This camouflage was created by the player LeiteArts10;
  
  
• Leopard 1A5 (Germany) — Encouracado camouflage of the Brazilian Armored Vehicle School;
  
  
• M41 (USA) — camouflage of the mechanized reconnaissance regiment of the 2nd Army of the Brazilian Armed Forces.
  

Your pictures with the heavy-hitting destroyers last week looked great! This week, capture the defeat of an aircraft. There are many possibilities in what you can use- Machine gun? Classic. A surface-to-air missile? Easy silver. A bomb? Surprise! 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 #WTscreen136. You have time until the 13th of September 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 an aircraft taking damage or being shot down.
  
• You must add the #WTscreen136 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=3321611555
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3323550695
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3321306660

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3322575715
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3321894705
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3321727792

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

Today, we’ll be taking a look at the Antelope, set to become one of the most advanced short-range anti-air systems in the Chinese ground forces tree.


At a glance:

• Anti-jam homing missiles, although only 4 in total.
  
• Thermal imager.
  
• Virtually no armor to speak of.

Vehicle History
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In 1995, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) sought to develop their short range air defense arsenal, especially as their MiM-72 platforms bought from America during the 1980s were showing their age and limitations. The result of this undertaking was the Antelope Air Defense System, which incorporated IR guided SAMs and radar. The setup was able to be operated standalone or mounted on a vehicle, where ultimately a truck chassis was chosen for mass production.  
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Coming to War Thunder in the Dance of Dragons major update, the Antelope will be joining the top ranks of China’s anti-air line, offering quite a unique playstyle and allowing for a smoother transition between the PGZ04A and Tor-M1, where there was previously a sizable gap. Let’s take a closer look!




The Antelope will become the second missile-only platform to arrive to the Chinese ground forces tree. Leaving conventional weapons behind, the Antelope features an integrated missile launcher with four IR-guided SAMs on board. Unlike the missiles found on the preceding PGZ04A, the Antelope’s armament features much greater range, up to 8 km in fact! As a result of this range and the general drastic improvement of the missile itself, its ability to intercept aircraft is very impressive. However, a limitation of the Antelope is that it can only carry a max of 4 missiles with no room to store any extra. What you see is what you get, so make every launch count!




Being on a modified truck chassis, the Antelope boasts excellent mobility. Thanks to its 150 HP diesel engine, this vehicle can reach a top speed just shy of 100 km/h. This makes it very easy to reposition itself after firing — a key element to SPAA is surprise, so engaging from an unexpected position will grant a much higher chance of success, especially if the radar is kept off until the last moment. The speed can also be effectively utilized to head to friendly strategic points to replenish missiles, though be very careful in the open, as the Antelope is entirely unarmored, so make sure you’re not out of cover for too long!




That’s it for today. The Antelope will soon be arriving to the top ranks of the Chinese ground forces tree to bolster the SPAA line in the Dance of Dragons major update. Until then, keep an eye out on the website for more devblogs and news, enjoy your matches and we’ll see you soon for more!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.

Speed up your progress with this premium tank, also coming in the next major update:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/236390/view/4579685279891604787

On September 11th 1944, the Red Army’s ground forces broke through German defenses in the Eastern Carpathians. After the end of WWII, this date began to be celebrated in the USSR as Tanker’s Day.

Available for Tanker’s Day.


“Golden HE” decoration

When: From today until September 9th (07:00 GMT).
Task: Win 5 battles using Soviet ground vehicles at rank III or higher to receive the “Golden HE” decoration.

Additional details:

• Your activity must not be below 70%.
  
• You can complete the task in random battles, except for Enduring Confrontation missions, and [Assault] mode.
  
• Track your progress in the hangar by clicking Nickname → Achievements → Holidays → Tanker’s Day.
  
• You can find the decoration in the “Other” tab in the Customization menu.

Also in honor of this day, there’s a 30% discount on all Soviet tanks in the Gaijin store, except for the T-80U-E1.

When: From today until September 9th (07:00 GMT).

This is the PUMA VJTF, the most advanced modification of Germany’s latest IFV currently fielded by the Bundeswehr. Featuring upgraded firepower, the PUMA VJTF will soon join the top ranks of the German ground forces tree!


At a glance:

• Excellent mobility!
  
• Addition of Spike-LR missiles.
  
• Active protection system.
  
• Powerful 30 mm autocannon!

Vehicle History
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In the late 2010s, the Bundeswehr sought to upgrade its PUMA IFVs to the latest technological standard. In 2021, the official approval for the modernization of 40 PUMAs was obtained. The new variant would feature the implementation of the Spike-LR ATGM and enhanced communication systems among other upgrades with a target deployment date for the vehicles being set for 2023. The vehicles form two platoons of the Bundeswehr and are dedicated to the German element forming the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force 2023 (VJTF). Future plans include the modernization of all PUMAs in the Bundeswehr’s stock to be upgraded to this standard.
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The PUMA is currently the most advanced IFV available to Germany, both in real life as well as in War Thunder. This is soon to change however in the Dance of Dragons major update! With the introduction of the PUMA VJTF, the German ground forces tree will gain access to the most advanced modification of the PUMA to date, most prominently featuring additional firepower. Let’s check out today’s devblog!




Representing one of the most modern German combat vehicles available in the game at the moment, the arrival of the PUMA VJTF will bring with it a new top dog to the German ground forces tree! Inheriting much of what the standard variant of the PUMA is already well known for, this upgraded variant of the vehicle most notably features upgrades to its firepower — more specifically, the addition of a twin barrel MELLS launcher. These represent the German designation of the Spike-LR, already familiar to top rank battles. The addition of these missiles further increase the PUMA’s combat effectiveness as the ATGMs extend its reach, allowing it to strike even heavily armored MBTs at great distances. Additionally, thanks to the missile’s fire-and-forget targeting system, you might even dare to engage incoming enemy aircraft and helicopters if you’re feeling lucky!

Did you know? The PUMA armored infantry vehicle program was formerly known as Igel — a Hedgehog in German.




Apart from the addition of a Spike launcher, the PUMA VJTF remains quite similar to the base model, retaining its sleek profile, excellent mobility and advanced active protection system. However, if you’re going to be playing this vehicle, be aware of its shortcomings, mainly found in its armor, being only light protection when excluding the ERA elements found integrated within the hull of the PUMA’s sides.




The most advanced modification of the PUMA IFV will soon be coming to War Thunder in the Dance of Dragons major update at rank VII in the German ground forces tree. In the meantime, stay sharp as we continue releasing more news articles covering the exciting new additions awaiting you in the upcoming update. Until then, good hunting tankers!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.

Video produced on the dev server. Final results may differ.

Our 2024 Roadmap included several interface improvements, and one of them was new reticles for modern tanks with improved elements of the tank’s gun sight systems. Today, we’re pleased to present it to you, not just in an updated form, but in a deeply customized form as well. This new feature will come to the game in the Dance of Dragons major update — let’s take a look!

A new option called “Sight settings” has been added to the Ground vehicle Battle Settings. When clicking on this button, you can create your own configuration of interface elements displayed in the gunner’s sight. Configurations that you create can be saved to individual vehicles or to every vehicle at a selected rank of a specific nation at once so that you don’t have to create a sight for each vehicle one by one. Plus, you can also use any sight on any vehicle in the game (yes, that means you can use the modern US sight on a T-34 if you want!).

The following elements can be customized:

• Grid sight. You can either select it from the grids already available in the game, or install a custom sight downloaded to the /UserSights/ folder located in the game directory
  
• Rangefinder indicator
  
• Turret rotation indicator
  
• Sight field of view indicator at maximum zoom
  
• Shot readiness indicator (shows readiness status and reload time)

Interface elements that do not affect aiming can be easily and conveniently dragged around the screen with your mouse cursor. Each element can be viewed in different modes: day, night, with a night vision device or with a thermal imager.

Learn how to install and create sights

This is just the first version of the customizable aiming sights that will be coming to the game in the Dance of Dragons major update. New elements and additional settings may be added in the future. In the meantime, tell us what you think about this new feature on the official forum or on our social networks!

Today, pre-orders for this special variant of the AV-8B Harrier VTOL strike aircraft with thermal imaging have started!


Features:

• A huge variety of weaponry, including JDAMs!
  
• Thermal imaging!
  
• VTOL capability but relatively slow speed.
  
• Fantastic versatility in both air and ground battles.

Vehicle History
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In 1989 to support the U.S. Marine Corps during both day and night, a special version of the VTOL AV-8B Harrier was developed, NA standing for Night Attack. This version differed from earlier modifications with the addition of the NAVFLIR (Navigation Forward-Looking Infrared) system, the cockpit was configured for night vision goggles, and an upgraded Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine was installed. This modification also involved upgrading existing AV-8B models to the AV-8B Night Attack standard. Still in service with the U.S. Marine Corps today, this variant participated in most military operations involving marine aviation from the late 20th to the early 21st century.
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Pre-order - AV-8B Night Attack Pack
Can be purchased through the store in-game. Shop > Online Store
69.99

• AV-8B Night Attack (Rank 7, USA)
  
• 2500 Golden Eagles
  
• Premium account for 20 days
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique "True Action Hero" title
  
• Pre-order bonus: "VMA-223 insignia" decal
  

This offer is not endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense or any military branch


Say hello to this special variant of the much loved Harrier, one of the most effective strike platforms for ground battles — the Night Attack (NA) variant, designed to support U.S. Marine Corps around the clock, night and day! This unique variant will be coming to the game when the Dance of Dragons major update is released, but today pre-orders for a special bundle containing the aircraft, unique pre-order bonuses and Golden Eagles and Premium time have started. Let’s take a look!



Representing one of the most advanced variants of the carrier based Harrier, the AV-8B (NA) will be quite familiar to those already accustomed with top-tier American or British aircraft. The real key feature of this variant is its thermal imaging mode, available even without a targeting pod — although it will only point forward. The Night Attack variant comes equipped with the F402 engine (the U.S. designation for the Rolls-Royce Pegasus) with familiar thrust vectoring capabilities. This aircraft is excellent for ground striking thanks to its great bomb load and wide array of ordnance. Make sure to take care though when approaching the battlefield as its speed is still relatively low, you’ll have to utilize its high maneuverability and large supply of countermeasures — 180 of them to be precise!



With the right pilot behind the controls, the AV-8B (NA) is a truly formidable force in ground battles, where its VTOL capabilities really come into play, sort of becoming a cross between a typical strike aircraft and an attack helicopter. It can hover behind terrain and surprise enemies, and swiftly rearm close to the battlefield from helipads.

At the core of any AV-8B loadout is the classic 25 mm GAU-12/U cannon. Much like the AV-8B Plus, the AV-8B (NA) has no in-built gun, only being able to carry one under the fuselage. As this variant is at a lower rank and battle rating, it lacks radar guided missiles and the top tier AIM-9M. However, it can still carry four of the highly maneuverable AIM-9L missiles, which are more than sufficient for any dogfight at its rank, as well as easily combating enemy helicopters. 



Thanks to its onboard electronics, the AV-8B (NA) excels with unguided weapons, being able to carry a wealth of free fall, drag and napalm bombs, along with Zuni and Mighty Mouse unguided rockets. Although, the real highlight is of course the guided weaponry! You can choose from precision guided bombs like the GBU-12 (up to ten) or the GBU-16 (up to four) which require the LITENING II targeting pod. The major update will also be introducing GPS-guided bombs, with this Harrier being able to equip up to 10 GBU-38 JDAMs. And finally, it can also equip some excellent air-to-ground missiles! Up to 4 AGM-65G or the new AGM-65E2 missiles can be carried, making this Harrier exceptionally versatile.



The pre-order for the AV-8B Night Attack pack is only available for a few more days, give it a look and pick it up for some exclusive cosmetic content, along with Premium time and a lot of Golden Eagles. Don’t miss out!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.

Unrivaled in its time and one of the first representatives of a class of fast battleships, HMS Barham is the main reward for the Steel Baron naval event!

At a glance:

• Deadly 381 mm guns!
  
• Good armor protection.
  
• One of the best top speeds amongst British battleships.
  
• Very weak AA defense, just two 76 mm cannons.

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Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were revolutionary for their time, with two key differences making them unrivaled in combat performance for many years. Firstly, the most powerful main battery with a rate of fire of two rounds per minute, which allowed them to destroy any potential enemy, and secondly the power plant with oil boilers, which provided these ships with high speed. The armor also took a step forward compared to other British ships, and the class was considered so successful that the Admiralty suspended the production of battlecruisers in favor of building another Queen Elizabeth-class battleship.

HMS Barham was launched in the autumn of 1914 and commissioned a year later. Barham took part in the famous Battle of Jutland as part of the 5th Battleship Squadron, attached to Beatty’s battlecruisers. During the interwar period, HMS Barham carried out patrols and took part in exercises. She also took part in active military operations during WWII from the first days after its outbreak, mainly in the Mediterranean. On November 24th 1941, while escorting a Maltese convoy, HMS Barham was torpedoed by German submarine U-331. Three torpedoes hit Barham, causing a fire and detonation on board. The moment of the tragic death of hundreds of sailors and the sinking of HMS Barham as a result of a huge explosion was captured on newsreel footage filmed from battleship HMS Valiant.
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Meet the main reward for the Steel Baron naval event, which was probably the best battleship in the world at the time of its inception, the mighty HMS Barham! This battleship features powerful armament and a good top speed, all coming to rank VI in the British Bluewater fleet tree. Let’s take a closer look.

Like the other four Queen Elizabeth-class ships, HMS Barham is armed with 8 x 381 mm (15 inch) guns in four turrets, with a rate of fire of two rounds per minute. In terms of auxiliary caliber weapons, HMS Barham features 14 x 152 mm (6 inch) guns in single-barrel mounts, with seven per side. As you may have already figured out, this is one of the most powerful ships in the game, capable of sinking any enemy ship with a few accurate salvos. The main caliber guns have shells that weigh a massive 871 kg, the SAPCBC and APC, both great for dealing with thick enemy battleship armor, with the APC featuring good post-pen effects.




For armor, HMS Barham is well-protected. The thickness of the armor belt and front turret reaches 330 mm, which, together with the well-protected barbettes and large crew size make HMS Barham very survivable and capable of quickly eliminating fires and leaks. One signature feature of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships is their oil boilers, which allow them to accelerate to 24 knots (44 km/h). This is very good compared to other Royal Navy battleships and one of the best among other early battleships in other nations.



HMS Barham has a few disadvantages though, one of which includes its weak AA capability. Only 2 x 76 mm guns are defending Barham from aircraft which are unlikely to be of much use against a good pilot. Another disadvantage is her very slow horizontal aiming speeds of the main turrets, meaning HMS Barham won’t be able to react quickly and attack ships that are firing at her from several directions. Keep your distance to ensure that you have the widest possible view of the open sea, and plan your route in advance. And lastly, if you do need to get involved in close-range combat, four 533 mm underwater torpedo tubes with 20 torpedoes are there to help.



HMS Barham is the main reward in the Steel Baron event that started today. Check out the link below for all the terms and how to participate in this event to earn yourself this awesome battleship!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STEEL BARON EVENT HERE