Let’s take a look at the Su-30SM, a modern Russian multi-role two-seat fighter jet coming to the Hornet’s Sting major update!

At a glance:

• Up to 12 weapon hardpoints.
  
• Huge arsenal of available weapons!
  
• New R-77-1 ARH air-to-air missile.
  
• Thrust vectoring control.

Vehicle History
[expand type=details]
During the further development of the Su-27 series of fighters, the introduction of a second crew member became necessary. This was to be the pilot-operator who could take control of weapons and navigation systems and if needed, have the ability to replace the main pilot on long-distance flights. For the development of a two-seater variant, the Su-27UB was picked to be modified. It received a new pilot-operator seat and numerous improvements to on-board avionics and weapon control systems.

In 1988, the aircraft entered testing under the designation of Su-30. Due to the difficult economic situation, it was decided to offer the new fighter to foreign customers, the first being India. Based on one of the fighter upgrades for the needs of India, a modification for the Russian Air Force was developed in the early 2010s. This was the new Su-30SM model that entered testing in September 2012 and by the end of the same year began to enter active units.

The Su-30SM is currently in active service with the Aerospace Forces and Naval Aviation of the Russian Navy and is also in service with Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Myanmar.
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One of the modern representatives of the Su-27 family is the two-seat variant of the Su-30SM, an advanced twin-engine fighter that’s currently in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces! This rather heavy and large-in-size multi-role fighter features a large payload and can accelerate to a maximum speed of about Mach 2, all while maintaining amazing maneuverability for its size. The Su-30SM also has the most advanced weapons among all USSR/Russian aircraft in the game. Let’s take a closer look!




The Su-30SM may feel familiar as it continues on from the Su-27SM, but will offer some interesting new features both in terms of piloting and weapons. Let’s start with its flight characteristics. Equipped with the AL-31F engine that provides speed and climb rates that are comparable to the Su-27, these engines have rotating nozzles, opening up new possibilities in full control modes. They can change the direction of thrust — known as thrust vectoring — along all axes during maneuvers, improving controllability at extreme angles. When you use this aircraft in the Hornet’s Sting major update, you’ll be able to temporarily disable the limitation on going beyond critical angles of attack and enable control of angular speeds while in battle — but do it at your own risk! In simplified modes, the moving nozzles help a little during takeoff and vertical maneuvers, and slightly increase the sharpness of turns.

Interesting: The famous “Russian Knights” aerobatic team uses the Su-30SM for training and aerobatic demonstration performances.



Moving on from flight performance, what about weaponry? The Su-30SM’s secondary weapons menu looks almost like a candy store for a sweet tooth: up to 12 hardpoints, a huge payload weight and countless combinations! Let’s start with weapons for air combat. The air-to-air missiles are mostly inherited from the Su-27SM, including the R-73, R-27ET and R-27ER with SARH homing head and inertial guidance system. Additionally there’s a new ARH homing missile, the R-77-1, featuring improved energy and an increased launch range.

In terms of weapons for use against ground targets, the available amount has become noticeably more diverse. Up first is the Kh-29L, Kh-29TD, Kh-38ML and Kh-38MT guided missile family from Sukhoi attack aircraft and bombers. Next, the KAB-1500Kr guided bombs have been supplemented by the small KAB-500Kr and the LG family bombs with a laser, satellite and inertial guidance KAB-250LG, KAB-500LG and KAB-1500LG, satellite-guided UPAB-500 and UPAB-1500 and the long-range Grom-2. To control these guided weapons, the Su-30SM features the new T220 targeting pod, the first targeting pod in the USSR aviation tree with wide viewing angles.



If for some reason you prefer old school or the mission objectives require attacking ground vehicles or destroying bases, then regular bombs come to the rescue! In addition to the above, there’s regular 100 to 1500 kg bombs, 500 kg parachute retarded bombs, 500 kg incendiary bombs, plus rockets including the large S-25. The icing on the cake is a modern radar with a passive phased array (PESA radar), providing fast target coordinate updates in TWS mode, an RWR and a modern cockpit with multiple multi-function displays (MFD).



That’s it for today! The Su-30SM is ready to become the USSR’s new hero at the top aviation battles in War Thunder — make sure to give it a try when it’s released in the Hornet’s Sting major update!

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

Today we’ll be taking a look at the Tracked Rapier, featuring the new Rapier missile installed onto the back of a M548 cargo-carrier that was in service with the British Army!

At a glance:

• The brand-new Rapier missile — Mk.1E and Mk.2!
  
• 8 missiles ready to fire.
  
• 61 km/h max vehicle speed.
  
• Lightly armored.

Vehicle History
[expand type=details]
The Rapier surface-to-air missile was developed for the British Army in the 1960s with the intention of replacing outdated and traditional anti-aircraft guns at RAF bases. This missile entered service with the British Army in 1971 as a static missile system.

An additional requirement by Iran was made to mount this missile system onto a tracked and mobile vehicle to help protect their Chieftain tanks. The Guided Weapons Division of BAC selected the American M548 as the vehicle and modified it to fit the Rapier missiles and a radar, which was first shown as the “Tracked Rapier” at the Paris Air Show in 1977. However, by the time Iran could receive orders, their government collapsed and had canceled defense contracts. Shortly after the British Army became interested and purchased several of these vehicles, first entering service in 1983 with the Royal Artillery.

The Tracked Rapier saw use in the Gulf War with the 12th and 16th Air Defence Regiments of the British Army. In the mid to late 1990s, it was phased out from service by the Stormer HVM vehicle. The RAF Cosford Museum has one Tracked Rapier on display.
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In the Hornet’s Sting major update, Great Britain is receiving a rather awesome SAM platform in the form of the Tracked Rapier! This new vehicle features a brand-new piece of weaponry, the British Rapier missile that’s capable of taking out planes and helicopters. Let’s take a further look!




Introducing the surface-to-air Rapier missile, brand-new to the game! This missile is SACLOS guided — lock onto your target through the radar and let the missile follow and hit. The Rapier Mk.1E missile can fire at a range of 7 km and the Mk.2 at 8 km! These missiles are proximity based as well, meaning you just need to fire near your target and wait for it to explode, much like the Roland 2 missile.

Did you know? “Rapier” is a type of thin-bladed sword, mainly used by Spain and Italy in the 16th century. Quite a good name for the Rapier missile, describing its appearance rather aptly!



Since the Rapier missile system was originally intended and used in static positions to protect high value assets, Iran requested that it be mounted onto a mobile chassis, leading the British Aircraft Corporation to look for solutions. They selected the American M548 cargo-carrier as the vehicle of choice, which was heavily modified to fit these missiles and featured some more armor at the front. Regardless of this, the Tracked Rapier still lightly protected and can be taken out by most enemy fire, especially with only 3 crew members, so keep this in mind while driving around!



8 Rapier missiles (with no stowed spares) are mounted onto the back of the M548 and can rotate 360 degrees in place and have good elevation angles. Much like the Imp.Chaparral already in the game — which is also a modified M548 — the Tracked Rapier can reach a top speed of 61 km/h and weighs 14 tons. This platform can maneuver around decently but is not as good as many other contemporary vehicles regarding overall mobility. To top it off, there are smoke grenade launchers at the front and back of the vehicle, good for concealing against enemy fire.



That’s it for this dev blog! The Tracked Rapier is going to provide Great Britain with some awesome domestic SAM coverage when it arrives in the Hornet’s Sting major update. See you in a few!

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

Two variants of this Russian tank destroyer are coming in the Hornet’s Sting major update — one as a standard researchable vehicle, and one as a squadron vehicle!

At a glance:

• Long-barreled 152 mm howitzer!
  
• HE, APHEBC, and HEAT rounds.
  
• Autoloader.
  
• Good mobility.
  
• Not much armor protection.

Vehicle History
[expand type=details]
The development of the 2S19 “Msta-S” began at the Ural Plant in 1976, and later on design bureaus of several companies in the Soviet’s military industry were involved in the work. The first one was released in 1983 and a year later, field tests began with the 2S19 being accepted into service in 1989. Based on operating experience, some shortcomings of the vehicle appeared, primarily related to the imperfect fire control system. These shortcomings were eliminated with the advent of the modernized 2S19M1 and 2S19M2 variants. In addition to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the 2S19 is in service with Venezuela, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia and Georgia.
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In the Hornet’s Sting major update, the 2S19M1 and M2, featuring a long-barreled 152 mm howitzer, an automatic loader and a good selection of shells are coming to the Soviet ground forces tree. Specifically, the 2S19M1 will be in the research line and the 2S19M2 will come as a new Squadron Vehicle. Let’s take a closer look!




The main weapon of the 2S19M1 and M2 is the long-barreled 152 mm howitzer that features automatic gun loading. There’s a plethora of available shells for this mighty gun, including two HE shells with up to 11.7 kg in TNT equivalent, a HE-VT shell, a HEAT shell and an APHEBC shell. These are all good for different scenarios that you may encounter while in battle!

All of the available ammunition — where a maximum of 50 can be taken into battle — is stored in the turret and is fed into the breech of the gun through an autoloader. The rate of fire is the main difference between the researchable 2S19M1 and 2S19M2 squadron vehicle at 8 and 10 rounds per minute respectively. Both reload rates are good and don’t depend on the skills of your crew!




Interesting: Most likely, “Msta” was named after a small river that flows in the Novgorod and Tver regions of Russia. However, there is also a version that the name of this vehicle is associated with an obsolete form of the word “revenge” in Russian.

If the 2S19M1 and M2’s hull looks familiar, then you’re right. This hull is from the T-80 and T-72 series tanks, with reworked armor protection parameters to reduce the overall weight. The 2S19M1 and M2 can reach a maximum road speed of 60 km/h, but — as very typical to Soviet and Russian tanks — the reverse speed is really poor at just 4 km/h.



In terms of surviving hits from enemy tanks, well it might be a bit of a problem. That’s because this vehicle is huge in size, has a low reverse speed, has poor gun depression and is very difficult to hide the vehicle in a bush or behind terrain cover. In addition to this, the 2S19M1 and M2 will generally be an easy target for aircraft due to the large size and thin armor. This armor will be able to withstand fire from machine guns, but anything larger in caliber will pierce straight through and give you a bad day.

So, we’ve talked about the good and bad. How do you play this thing? Get to a good position for sniper fire or go behind your teammates when attacking as a support vehicle. With a careful, yet aggressive playstyle, the 2S19M1 and M2 will show their best side thanks to their firepower and reload speed.



That’s it for this one! You can research the 2S19M1 in the Soviet research tree and get the 2S19M2 for squadron activity points or buy it outright for Golden Eagles with the release of the Hornet’s Sting major update. Happy tanking!

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

A big thanks to all who submitted screenshots last week! This week we will be focused on the smaller vehicles with lots of agility. Take a picture with a fighter aircraft, light tank, or coastal vessel! 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 #WTscreen161. You have time until the 7th 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 Light Tank, Coastal Vessel, or Fighter.
  
• You must add the #WTscreen161 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=3432117623
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3433494973
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3434205242

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3434650257
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3434339899
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3433069791

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

The Aérospatiale Alouette III multi-purpose helicopter designed by French company Sud Aviation made its first flight on February 28th, 1959. This helicopter was popular among countries and saw widespread service, with more than 2,000 Alouette III helicopters being produced. The number of operating countries reached 80, with Romania being one of them who gave the helicopter the designation of IAR 316.

You can get this helicopter at a 30% discount for 5,992 Golden Eagles!



When: From today until March 3rd (11:00).
Where: France > Helicopter > Premium vehicles.

About this helicopter

• The IAR 316B (rank V) is a Romanian-produced variant of the SA 316B, differing from the original Alouette III in that it has a new engine and a reinforced main and tail rotor. The IAR 316B is armed with two 7.62 mm machine guns and Malyutka-2 ATGMs and S-5K rockets for use against ground vehicles!

Today we’re taking a look at the visually updated Advance to the Rhine, Sinai and improved Jungle that will be coming in the Hornet’s Sting major update!


The war has now reached the right bank of the Rhine. The ancient city here has survived a series of air raids and now its cobblestone streets with the ruins of buildings and the ghosts of abandoned trams have become a real battlefield.




We’ve updated the graphics for one of the most popular city locations in War Thunder! Our artists have replaced the building models and completely updated the textures on this location, all while preserving the navigation, capture points and cover locations familiar among players. Advance to the Rhine has received many decorative elements in the design of the streets for greater historical authenticity, and the vegetation has been updated and adjusted.





We now move on from Western Europe to the Sinai Peninsula on the border of the continents of Asia and Africa. In the missions on this location, we’ve carried out a major graphical update to the environment. The color shades of sand and rocks have changed, small stones on passages will no longer obstruct the movement of armored vehicles, and the sand dunes look more natural.




The look of the roads has changed both for the sandy part and for the cluster of rocks. A small amount of architecture has changed, with some houses in the villages replaced with more authentic white-walled ones. A railway and telegraph line have been added between the main combat areas and the water channel. Vegetation, rock formations and landforms have been added to the combat area and outside of it in the desert.




From the dry sands of the desert, we move to the beautiful tropical jungles of the Solomon Islands! Meet the new Jungle, where in addition to visual improvements, we’ve made several important changes to gameplay. This location has received updated vegetation in the form of palm trees, bushes, and the terrain now looks more natural. Small villages have been built in different parts of the location, which liven up the appearance of the combat area for ground vehicles.





The river that flows through the entire location can now be crossed at any place without the risk of drowning. The map designers have made it so that it’s impossible to climb the mountain in square B1, as it was previously possible to shoot from it through to all capture points. Plus, the positions in squares E4 and E5 have been closed off.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus (Happy St. David’s Day)!

March 1st is St. David’s Day! A special day for the people of Wales, who go to parades, music festivals and wear the daffodil and leek. The Welsh flag features a red dragon passant with a white and green background, and makes a temporary return to War Thunder for Golden Eagles.

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


“Wales” flag decal

When: From today until March 3rd (07:00 GMT).
Where: You can find this decal by going to Nickname → Decals → Common → World Flags.

Today we’ll be taking a look at the F/A-18 Hornet family of aircraft — the nations that will get this aircraft and the pre-order pack!

At a glance:

• Outstanding maneuverability!
  
• Large selection of weapons.
  
• New air-to-air missiles.
  
• Weaponry for any type of mission!

Vehicle History
[expand type=details]
The F/A-18 Hornet carrier-based fighter jet was a further development of the Northrop YF-17 prototype. This prototype took part in the Lightweight Fighter program for a promising U.S. Air Force fighter against the YF-16 prototype that went on to become the F-16 Fighting Falcon in 1975. After the YF-17 lost this competition, it was decided to return to the project to participate in a new program announced by the Navy. McDonnell Douglas joined in reworking the prototype into a carrier-based variant instead, ultimately becoming the sole developer of the carrier-based version.

Initially, two versions of the new aircraft were planned; a fighter and an attack variant, however during development both were combined into one. The first flight of the prototype took place in November 1978, with serial production beginning in 1980. Soon after, this new jet fighter began to enter service with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The Hornet was produced both in single-seat variants (A and C) and the two-seat variants (B and D).

The F/A-18 Hornet has been used in most military conflicts where the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have been involved in, including Libya, the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm, the Balkans and Afghanistan. In addition to the United States, other countries have operated the F/A-18 Hornet, including Canada, Finland, Australia, Kuwait and some more. The F/A-18 Hornet was further developed into the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
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Perhaps the most famous U.S. carrier-based fighter-bomber, the F/A-18 Hornet is coming to War Thunder in the Hornet’s Sting major update! Today, we’ll be telling you about the F/A-18A and F/A-18C (late) fighters, plus the premium F/A-18C (early), where the pre-order to receive bonuses has started today. Let’s take a closer look at this jet!



The F/A-18 Hornet family has gained great popularity in both the United States and abroad thanks to its versatile flight and combat capabilities. The powerful F404 series engine (that slightly varies in power in different models), excellent aerodynamics and advanced flap design not only makes the Hornet one of the best planes in the game in terms of maximum speed and climb rate, but also provides the highest maneuverability across the entire speed range — a great feature to have at high-rank air battles. The Hornet’s structural strength is also very high, but be sure to train your crew in resistance to overloads before going into battle!

Interesting: The Hornet became the first U.S. combat aircraft to receive the combined designation of F/A (Fighter/Attack).



The F/A-18 Hornet features the M61A1 rapid-fire aircraft cannon that’s conveniently located at the center of the front of the aircraft between the cockpit and nose cone. All Hornet variants in the game will receive almost identical types of radars with target differentiation, RWR and countermeasure pods for launching flares and chaff. However, the main aspect that sets the variants of the F/A-18 Hornet apart is the secondary weapons and sighting systems that make it possible to use more advanced types of weapons.

Let’s first take a look at the F/A-18A variant. This one has the least amount of available weapons, however it’s still enough to perform a wide range of combat tasks. For air combat, this one features the AIM-9L and AIM-7F and M air-to-air missiles. In addition to regular bombs and rockets, you’ll be able to take the new Walleye II ER/DL guided bomb with a thermal imaging homing head into battle, while a pod with a thermal imager can also be equipped under the wings.

Moving onto the premium F/A-18C (early) variant that can be pre-ordered starting from today. This one has a thermal imaging and laser-guided targeting system that allows for the addition of the Paveway II family of guided bombs (GBU-12, GBU-16, GBU-10, GBU-24) and the advanced Maverick AGM-65E and AGM-65F guided missiles.



To get to the Gaijin Store through Steam, go to the in-game hangar > Shop > Online Store!
79.99

• F/A-18С Early (Rank VIII, USA)
  
• 3000 Golden Eagles
  
• Premium account for 30 days
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique "Any time Wingman" title
  
• Pre-order bonus: unique "Hornet Silhouette" decal
  
  
• Pre-order bonus: VFA-81 "Sunliners" Camouflage
  
  

Next up is the most advanced F/A-18C (late) variant. This variant will add guided bombs with GNSS guidance, including the GBU-38, GBU-32 and GBU-31 compared to the previous variants. For air combat, the F/A-18C (late) features a Helmet Mounted Display (HMD), the maneuverable AIM-9M, the new to the game AIM-7P with inertial guidance with a mid-course update data-link, as well as the long-range AIM-120B active radar homing missile.





Lastly is the Finnish F/A-18C variant, coming to the Swedish aviation tree. This variant lacks weapons for strikes against ground targets, but is armed with a radar seeker, AIM-120B missiles for long-range air combat and maneuverable AIM-9M missiles for the closer ranges.

That’s it for this one! Four F/A-18 Hornet jet fighters will be coming to War Thunder with the release of the Hornet’s Sting major update — an uncompromising choice for air battles at the high-ranks for the USA and Sweden!

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

Introducing the next major update trailer for War Thunder: Hornet's Sting!

• A bug that sometimes caused launched ARH missiles to not display on a client and to not trigger RWR has been fixed. (Report).

Patch notes reflect only key changes, meaning they may not include a complete list of all improvements made. Additionally, War Thunder is constantly being updated and some changes may not require an update. Changes reflected in patch notes are formed by taking reactions and requests of the community from the bug reporting service, forums and other official platforms into account. Bug fixes and changes are implemented in order of importance, for example a game-breaking bug will be worked on and implemented sooner.