War Thunder News

The War Thunder Championships Series has begun! The last two Qualifying weekends have been intense, with amazing action and great tactical plays. With almost 800 players registered, 8 teams have emerged from the crowd to secure their ticket for the play-off phases. They will now face each other in a double elimination bracket and BO5 matches. Their objective you ask? To finish in the best position to earn maximum points and get a head start on the season!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Everything is all to play for, two majors remain to secure a place in the Grand Final in November 2025!

[expand]
Team RAWR

We don't need to introduce them to you any more. Team RAWR is an international English-speaking team whose aim is to dominate the competition and win their first title.

Team AVReS

A team mainly made up of Russian players, in 2024 they proved their superiority. They finished second during the Thunder Cup, but this year they're aiming to finish first!

Team Forfeet

Armed with their “Baguette”, this new French-speaking team is making a smashing entry into the competition, and we wish them great succes!

Team DODEC

Composed of Polish and Ukrainian players This team is made up of some of the best players in the world! After a “complex” Thunder Cup, they're coming back even stronger!

Team Wastedtime

After numerous successes during the Air Superiority tournaments, this team made up of passionate players, continues to make its mark on the history of War Thunder Esports.

Team LEET
One of the oldest teams on the Esports scene, and still going strong, showing us some great games! This team is known for its innovative strategy, which often leads to victory.

Team AVRVG

The B team of the AVReS but not in the results! This team follows in their godfather's footsteps, and well intends to show that they are the strongest.

Team IgnisAvis

Following the announcement of the WTCS a new international team has been created! With former members of the BIH and MRCLS, this team has huge potential!
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[h2]Live streams with Twitch Drops![/h2]
During each weekend, you'll have the opportunity to acquire amazing camouflages while watching the matches live.


When: May 3rd-4th and May 10th-11th from 14:40 GMT

Watch WTCS TITAN only on the official English, German, French, Polish and Russian War Thunder Esport channels and receive:



[h3]1st weekend May 3rd-4th[/h3]

• 50% RP Booster for 10 battles
  
• 50% SL Booster for 10 battles
  
• 1 Day of premium
  
• Infantry Backpack
  
• “TITAN” decal
  
• 2S19M1 “Rapid Response” camouflage
  

[h3]2nd weekend May 10th-11th[/h3]

• 50% RP Booster for 10 battles
  
• 50% SL Booster for 10 battles
  
• 1 Day of premium
  
• “Titanomachy” title
  
• “Fresh paint” profile icon frame
  
• F-18C late “BlueBird” camouflage
  

Info: Login to your Twitch account → link your Gaijin account → click “Allow” to be able to receive Twitch Drops!

[h2]31 New Skins Now Available in the ‘WTCS Trophy I’![/h2]
The new WTCS Trophy is now complete, with camouflages created by authors on WT.Live! This new wave of additions includes 31 camouflages for different vehicles: 17 aircraft, 12 ground, 1 helicopter and 1 ship. We’re continuing to showcase vehicles with unique creations by our artists.



[h3]Ground Vehicles[/h3]

• M1A1 Click-Bait - "Graffiti Bomb II"
  
• Challenger 2E - "Baskerville"
  
• Ariete AMV - "Blood Dragon"
  
• VT4A1 - "Spirit Guardian"
  
• M1A1 AIM - "Spartan"
  
• Type 90 (B) "Fuji" - "Technomancer"
  
• Leopard 2A7V - "Nemesis"
  
• Leopard 2A6NL - "King of Street"
  
• T-90M - "Delta-3"
  
• Strv 122B+ - "Valhalla's Garden"
  
• Leopard 2A7HU - "Disco Machine"
  
• VT5 - "WTCS Camouflage"
  

[h3]Aircraft [/h3]

• F-15E - "Ruperts Eagle"
  
• J-11A - "Leifeng Pagoda"
  
• F-2000A - "Onmivaga"
  
• Typhoon FGR.4 - "Thunder Tiger"
  
• Baz Meshupar - "Azur Eagle"
  
• F-16C Barak II - "Fenix"
  
• F-15J(M) - "Haru No Kisetsu"
  
• Rafale C F3 - "Shockwave"
  
• Su-33 - "Xenon"
  
• Su-27SM - "Argon"
  
• Su-34 - "Krypton"
  
• JAS39C - "XVII The Star"
  
• F-4F KWS LV - "Old World Magic"
  
• JA37DI F21 - "Boreal Steel"
  
• J-10A - "Pearl From The East"
  
• EF-2000 - "Union Fighter"
  
• Su-30SM - "WTCS Camouflage"
  
• Ka-52 - "Neonbit"
  

[h3]Naval Vessels[/h3]

• JN Fuso - "It Comes From The Deep"
  

Like the previous Esports trophy, the new trophy can be obtained by simply playing regular War Thunder battles. In the future, it’ll also be possible to obtain with an increased chance by participating in Esports events in War Thunder tournaments! PlayStation and Xbox players can purchase the trophy in the Item Shop for Golden Eagles.

To open it, you’ll need to purchase a key on the Market (income is shared with the authors of the camouflages). You can either activate the coupon on your account, or trade it on the Market to get Gaijin Coins (GJN). A trophy can be sold as well!



To unlock the trophy, you'll need an “Esport” key that can be purchased on the Market for GJN.

• Read more about the Market and Gaijin Coins on our Wiki

[h2]Don’t miss the Thunder Tactiks Pack[/h2]

• Unique decal: "Thunder Tactiks"
  
• Unique camouflage: Bf 109 F-4 "Thunder Tactics"
  
• Unique camouflage: Sd.Kfz.234/2 "Thunder Tactics"
  
• 300 Golden Eagles
  

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

Last week, we introduced a short test for a new mode called “Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses” (SEAD). We saw your enthusiasm, and today we’re happy to be bringing it back for the weekend with some changes and additions mainly based on feedback!

When: From May 2nd (14:00 GMT) until May 5th (04:00 GMT)

You can access the event from the hangar through: Events & Tournaments -> Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses

If you missed the first test and would like to catch up on everything regarding this mode, then be sure to check out the original news post below.

[h2]Information regarding SEAD:[/h2]
https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/547858640693887496



[h2]Changes from the first test[/h2]
The way it plays will be the same as the first test, with the exception of the following new changes / additions:

• Players are distributed a bit more randomly at the front when spawning in at a random spawn point
  
• Enemy planes near allied spawn points are highlighted on the map (like in Ground Realistic Battles)
  
• Afghanistan has been removed, and the following maps have been added: Sinai, Spain, Rocky Canyon, and Southeastern City
  
• There are now 12 players on the defending team instead of 16 (this was changed near the end of the first test, where the win percentage for the Attackers then raised to a far more reasonable level)
  
• The reward in Silver Lions and research points for destroying the SNR-75 tracking radar has been doubled
  
• Mission score for destroying the SNR-75 tracking radar has been tripled to 270
  
• Mission score for destroying launchers, Shilkas and detecting radars (P-12) has been unified for the Cobra and Phantom and increased to 135
  

Today we’re back with some updates on what you can expect from the game in the near future. We’ve got some sneak peeks and interesting information to share with you today, so sit back, grab your favorite drink and read on! We’ve also changed the title of this series to better reflect the content.

Disclaimer: While we’re excited to be able to share work-in-progress information before dev blogs, the dev server and the full release, please bear in mind that new features, vehicles and maps mentioned in this news are subject to change, be delayed or be canceled. War Thunder is constantly being developed, and as with all game development, unexpected delays or other unforeseen circumstances may occur. Thank you for your interest!

[h2]Reflecting on the SEAD event test[/h2]


Recently, we tested the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) event for two days and have seen your enthusiasm for something like this. We would like to thank everyone who tested it and left their comments!

We’ve taken note of your comments about this test starting during the week instead of the weekend. Since this was something new, we wanted to be on standby so that we could keep an eye on any major issues and fix or change an aspect of the test in real time. This helped as we did reduce the defender team size from 16 to 12 after reading your comments and checking the statistics. Shortly after making this change, the win percentage for the Attackers raised to a far more reasonable level.

Another concern raised by some players was the strength of the Shilka and S-75s firing at the Attackers. Their strength is intentional as we want it to be a challenge and for players to use tactics, teamwork and utilize different weaponry types to take them out. Overall they’re difficult, but not impossible to engage — we’ll of course keep an eye on any issues but they will retain their strength as of now.

On the contrary, some players raised the concern that the rewards for destroying SAM sites was too low and not that incentivising. Therefore we’ve increased rewards and mission score for certain actions, check out the bullet points below on exactly what was changed.



Due to the popularity of the SEAD event, we’ve decided to return it this weekend from May 2nd (14:00 GMT) until May 5th (04:00 GMT), so that everyone who is at home from education and work can give it a try if they missed it the first time round. We feel confident to run this on the weekend now since we’ve had time to make changes based on the first test.

The way it plays will be the same as the first test, with the exception of the following new changes / additions:

• Players will be distributed a bit more randomly at the front when spawning in at a random spawn point
  
• Enemy planes near allied spawn points will be highlighted on the map (like in Ground Realistic Battles)
  
• Afghanistan has been removed, and some the following maps are likely to be added: Sinai, Spain, Rocky Canyon, and Southeastern City
  
• There are now 12 players on the defending team instead of 16 (this was changed near the end of the first test)
  
• The reward in Silver Lions and research points for destroying the SNR-75 tracking radar has been doubled
  
• Mission score for destroying the SNR-75 tracking radar has been tripled to 270
  
• Mission score for destroying launchers, Shilkas and detecting radars (P-12) has been unified for the Cobra and Phantom and increased to 135
  

[h2]Next Event Vehicles[/h2]
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Victory Day! For this we’ll have our traditional celebrations and an event with a Soviet tank as the main reward, which has already been announced. Afterwards, those interested in aircraft will be able to appreciate one of Kurt Tank’s designs in the aircraft event. And in early June, we’ll be having an event dedicated to D-Day with an American tank as the main reward. When this event finishes, there will then be about a 1 month gap without an event — after that, naval fans will be able to enjoy a naval vehicle in a naval event.



Keep an eye on the news for all information surrounding everything mentioned here!

[h2]World War Mode[/h2]
Back in December last year, we said we hoped to share some info about WWM early in 2025 and referenced WWM during the SEAD test. At the moment, we’re testing SEAD for Aerial Warfare, which is dedicated to aircraft. After SEAD, we’ll do another test for a mission that will be in Aerial Warfare in the same format as the SEAD event, so keep an eye out for that. WWM is still in development and we hope to share more details about it in the coming months. Thank you for your patience with it!



[h2]The Upcoming Major Update[/h2]
[h2]Vehicles[/h2]


In December’s Q&A, we mentioned that some powerful ships will be released in 2025. And that’s definitely true, as the next major update will be bringing in some superior, iconic, big, vast and yottabyte ships.

There will of course be aircraft too, including a rather cool helicopter for the USA and a jet for Japan. In December’s Q&A, we also spoke about more advanced SAM system vehicles at top tier for ground forces coming in 2025. The next major update will see several of these new systems come to the game for several nations at once.

The dev blog season will be beginning in the coming weeks, so be sure to check out everything we’ve got lined up there.



[h2]Talking about a top-tier French premium tank[/h2]
We’ve seen many questions and requests for a top rank premium tank for the French tree, and today we’re ready to provide some information and our thoughts regarding this.

We previously mentioned the challenges of finding a suitable candidate that fits a populated Battle Rating with other vehicles possible in its lineup. This is an important consideration when we look into including a premium vehicle in the game — we look into other vehicles that could fit into a lineup with it.

We have plans to add a prototype variant of the Leclerc in the next major update, however not as a premium. The reason for this is that its armor protection is still under question, and we’re wary of adding a premium vehicle with armor that could very much be subject to heavy changes if new information came to light. The specific variant of the prototype is still being worked on and is planned for the main research tree, where potential drastic changes to armor and Battle Ratings are more tolerable than if it was a premium vehicle.

To reiterate, we don’t want to add premium vehicles at the highest possible Battle Rating, so a premium at 12.0 for ground forces is not possible at the moment. With this in mind, we looked into another consideration as well. This included some form of a production Leclerc as a premium, but without a top round so that it could be placed at a lower Battle Rating. However this vehicle would have no lineup of its own and would only be valid in toptier 12.0 lineups, where it would be at a disadvantage with a weaker round.

So what solution have we come to? We plan to introduce a Leopard 2A4 NL from the Netherlands as a premium for the French ground forces tree. It will come with some cool and distinct visuals. This is a reliable and proven MBT that will serve the premium role well, while allowing us to retain the Leclerc MSC prototype for the research tree and offer further support for lesser populated Battle Rating ranges. Both of these tanks are planned to come together in the next major update.

[h2]Map Visual Upgrades[/h2]
We’re continuing the trend of visual updates for older ground forces maps in the next major update. Berlin and Kuban are up next and we can’t wait to show you how they look soon.



[h2]Falklands Island map for air battles[/h2]
We’re happy to announce that a new location for air battles, the Falklands Islands, will be coming in the next major update. We know many of you have been speaking about the idea of a map set on this island for some time now. From Port Stanley to Port San Carlos and to Goose Green, keep an eye out for more information about this new location, coming soon.

[h2]Tooltip Improvements[/h2]
In the last couple major updates, we’ve been working on several areas of the interface, and in the next major update we’re continuing this trend. First up, the tooltip when hovering over any player’s name in the scoreboard will now show their fancy player background, instead of just their name written as plain text.
Next, vehicle stat cards will now show in full when hovering over a vehicle name in the scoreboard while in battle. You can also add a vehicle to your wish list from the context menu here too. And lastly, all tooltips have been improved in the battle debriefing menu as well.

[h2]VFX Updates[/h2]
War Thunder’s VFX are constantly evolving and in the next major update we’ll have some improvements to this aspect of the game. One in particular that we’d like to mention is the afterburner effect of aircraft, where we’ve looked to refine the inside of the nozzle by adding a flame effect, giving them a more realistic and in-depth look. This improvement will come for all aircraft that have afterburners.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Fuel Dumping[/h2]
In the next major update, we’ll be adding the ability to dump fuel for aircraft! Let’s go over a run down of how this will work. After dumping the fuel, the weight of the aircraft will reduce, so you can dump fuel just before going into combat, for example.

When the engines are running in afterburner mode, the fuel can catch fire. Other sources can also cause a fire, for example flying missiles or nearby explosions. Even another aircraft flying in afterburner can cause fuel to catch fire.

Burning fuel emits intense heat, which allows infrared-guided missiles without anti-jamming systems to target it. You can use this ability to swap your fuel for an improvised heat trap to divert a missile from the aircraft. However, this functionality can become bait for missiles, depending on the flight angle.

This new functionality will be available on those aircraft that had it in real life.



[h2]Rounding off[/h2]

There is of course more things in the works coming in the major update, we haven’t mentioned everything in this news. We’d like to thank everyone for their continued comments and interest in War Thunder. See you next time!

From your CM and Dev Team

80 years have passed since May 1945, when the Second World War in Europe ended. It’s time to celebrate Victory Day! In this event, you’ll be able to get a decorated Soviet T-34-85 that was used in ‘45, decals dedicated to the capture of Berlin, and a profile icon of Grigory Brazhnikov.

[h3]From May 8th (11:00 GMT) until May 20th (11:00 GMT), earn mission points in Ground Battles, unlock stages and receive rewards![/h3]

[h2]T-34-85 “Partisan” — A Premium Medium Tank for the USSR at Rank III[/h2]
The T-34-85 was a symbol of victory for the USSR over Nazi Germany. This medium tank is generally an all-rounder, featuring good mobility, decent protection and good firepower. In honor of Victory Day, a decorated version of the T-34-85 tank with a classic 85 mm ZIS-S-53 gun, decorated with a red banner and special identification marks is available in this event. The T-34-85 “Partisan” has a new, highly detailed model, and in the next War Thunder major update we plan to update the other older T-34-85 models as well.

We’d like to note that in the future the T-34-85 in the research tree will be moved to Rank III, and a new T-34-85 with the STP-S-53 “Taran” stabilizer will be added to Rank IV in the tree. The premium T-34-85E will stay at Rank IV. Stay tuned!



In 1945, Lieutenant Grigory Brazhnikov took part in street battles in Berlin in a T-34-85. The tank company under his command cleared 32 city blocks, with Brazhnikov himself claiming to have destroyed an enemy medium tank and a Ferdinand. In total, Brazhnikov achieved 16 victories during the war.



Among the rewards in the event is also this chest. When opened, there is a chance to receive one of the following items:

• 50,000 - 100,000 Silver Lions
  
• Silver Lion and Research Point boosters
  
• Random Wagers and Orders
  
• Universal Backups (1 - 3)
  
• A random camouflage for a vehicle you own
  
• 1 day of Premium Account
  

[h2]How to get all rewards[/h2]
Each stage is unlocked for 35,000 mission points and brings a new reward.

Please note: After finishing a stage, you need to collect the reward manually. To do this, click on your name in-game, go to “Legend of Victory: T-34-85” and click the “Get Reward” button.

You’re able to earn mission points in Ground Battles at Rank III or above in Arcade, Realistic and Simulator Battles. The number of mission points to complete a stage depends on the game mode and the maximum Rank of the vehicle that you use in battle. There’s a multiplier for earning mission points, which is shown in the task description in-game.

You can also earn mission points by using event vehicles that are Rank I and II. Event vehicles that can be used have the name of the event that they were obtainable in on their stat card.

[h3]Stages change every two days at 11:00 GMT on May 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th.
[/h3]

[h2]Rewards are given when you complete a specific number of stages[/h2]

• For 1 Stage: trophy with a random reward
  
• For 2 Stages: one of the decal rewards
  
• For 3 Stages: trophy with a random reward
  
• For 4 Stages: one of the decal rewards
  
• For 5 Stages: “Grigory Brazhnikov” profile icon
  
• For 6 Stages: non-tradable coupon for the T-34-85 “Partisan”
  

[h3]Discounts on purchasing stages using Golden Eagles[/h3]
Unfinished stages can be purchased for Golden Eagles, but if you’re significantly close to completing a stage, its price will now be significantly reduced.

Let’s say you have earned 85% of the required mission points to complete a stage, then the price of purchasing this stage will be halved. If you’re near the finish line for a stage and are at 95% progress, then the price will be reduced by five times. For example, if you’ve scored 30,000 mission points, then the price for unlocking this stage will be 349 Golden Eagles. If you’ve scored 33,500 mission points, then you’ll only need to pay 139 Golden Eagles. Remember to keep this in mind if you cannot complete a stage on time!

[h3]The Upgrade for coupon [/h3]
When you complete 6 stages, you’ll receive a non-tradable coupon for the T-34-85 “Partisan”, where using it will immediately activate the vehicle onto your account. If you don’t want the vehicle and would like to sell the coupon on the Market, you’ll need the “Upgrade for coupon” item.

The “Upgrade for coupon” item can be earned in parallel with the stages throughout the event from May 8th (11:00 GMT) until May 20th (11:00 GMT) for 500,000 mission points.

After receiving the “Upgrade for coupon” item, you can convert a non-tradable coupon for the vehicle into a tradable one and sell it on the Market. The tradable coupon can be sold after 6 days from the moment it’s created.

The “Upgrade for coupon” item is valid until May 23rd (11:00 GMT). Until this time, you can use it or exchange it for War Bonds. Afterwards, it’ll disappear from your inventory.

To make a tradable coupon, select the “Coupon T-34-85 “Partistan” (USSR)” in your inventory and click the “Modify” button.

You can track the progress of completing stages and receiving the “Upgrade for coupon” by clicking on your Nickname > Achievements > Legend of Victory. If you don’t manage to complete a stage on time or would like to purchase a stage, until May 23rd from the Achievements window, you can purchase each stage with Golden Eagles which will give you the corresponding rewards.

[h2]Aircraft[/h2]

• R2Y2 Kai (all variants) — these aircraft have been removed from research today as announced and planned. Players who owned them or who put at least 1 RP into them keep them in their research tree. For more information, please visit the news post from February here.
  
• A bug that caused the AN/ALR-46(V)3 and AN/APR(V)1 RWRs to not recognize the S-75 SAM radar has been fixed.
  
• F-15E — a bug that caused the AGM-65D camera to lack the IR channel has been fixed.
  

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.