1. War Thunder
  2. News

War Thunder News

New Locations: “Franz Josef Land” with new fortification mechanics



The abandoned frozen waters of Franz Josef Land welcome our captains! Meet the first location with destructible fortifications!

[h2]“Franz Josef Land”[/h2]



The new location for naval battles called “Franz Josef Land” will become one of the northernmost locations in War Thunder. Here, players will witness the harsh lifeless expanses of plateau-like islands covered with basalt and permafrost glaciers. But even these uninhabitable islands have been mastered by man. Here you can find two polar stations, military bases, as well as a few abandoned villages.



In the Dominance mode for this location, we plan to add fortifications with a different set of weapons that provide fire support for bases. Destruction of such fortifications will grant players additional points. We want to make naval battles more varied and dynamic, and we're interested in your opinion of the new gameplay option. We look forward to your feedback as soon as the update is released!

Server Update 16.05.23



  • The previously announced economic changes have been implemented.
  • Free repair time in the hangar has been changed. The minimum time of free repair now depends on the economic rank (vehicle rank and its position in the tech tree). Previously, it was dependent on repair cost in Silver Lions.
  • Cost of the “Crew replenishment” modification now depends on the economic rank (vehicle rank and its position in the tech tree). Previously it was dependent on the vehicle's rank. Repair costs of reserve vehicles have been reduced from 100 to 10 SL; other rank I vehicles have had their repair costs reduced from 100 to 40-70 SL. Repair costs of the rank VII vehicles increased from 700 to 1,000-1,100 SL.
  • Research and purchase costs of some squadron vehicles have been changed (table).
  • Purchase costs and RP multipliers of some Premium vehicles have been changed (table).
  • Research, purchase costs, as well as other auxiliary parameters of some researchable vehicles have been changed (table).
  • The following position changes have been implemented for the research trees:
    • M3A1 Stuart — taken out of the M3/M3A1 Stuart research group.
    • Pz.III J — taken out of the Pz.III F/J group.
    • Pz.IV C — moved to the position before Pz.II C.
    • Pz.II F — taken out of the Pz.II C/F group.
    • Pz.35(t) — moved to the position before Sd.Kfz.221 (s.Pz.B.41).
    • Pz.38(t) A, Pz.38(t) F — moved to the position after Sd.Kfz.221 (s.Pz.B.41).
    • Pz.38(t) F — taken out of the Pz.38(t) A/F group.
    • 15cm sIG 33 B Sfl, Panzerjäger I, Sd.Kfz.251/9 — moved to the position before StuG III A.
    • Т-28 — taken out of the Т-28/Т-28E group and moved to rank I.
    • Ratel 20 — moved to rank IV to a position after Ratel 90.
    • G6 — moved to rank V to a position after Eland 90 Mk.7.
    • Spj fm/43-44 and Sav m/43 (1944) — switched places.
    • PTL02 — moved to rank VI to a position after CM25.
    • Ki-109 — moved to rank I to a position after Ki-45 tei.
    • Ki-45 hei — taken out of the Ki-45 group.
    • J1N1 — moved to rank II to a position after Ki-45 hei.
    • Ki-45 otsu — moved to a position after J1N1.
    • B6N1 Model 11 — taken out of the B6N group and moved to rank I.
    • D4Y3 Ko — taken out of the D4Y group.
    • P1Y1 mod. 11 — moved to rank III to a position before B7A2.
    • H8K2 — moved to a position after Ki-49-IIa.
    • T18B and T18B (57) — switched places and moved to rank III; the requirement to open ranks IV and V have been adjusted.
  • The following changes to be implemented with the upcoming major update:
    • Begleitpanzer 57 — moved to a position after the Radkampfwagen 90.
    • PUMA — moved to a position after the Begleitpanzer 57.
    • SIDAM 25 — moved to rank VI.
The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

Raketenautomat: double-barrel rocket launcher



An experimental rocket SPG with two 81mm launchers and an extreme fire rate is coming to the game as part of the upcoming War Thunder update.

[h2]Raketenautomat, SPG, Germany, rank V[/h2]

Features:
  • Mechanized ammo rack
  • Very high fire rate
  • Limited rocket stowage
  • Poor protection


The Raketenautomat self-propelled rocket launcher will be one of the pure novelties of the upcoming major War Thunder update. The vehicle will be the first post-war German self-propelled gun to research after the monstrously heavy Jagdtiger. A few words about the new high-tech rocket launcher!

The fancy look of the vehicle is determined by an unusual combat module, familiar to weathered tankers after the Swedish Landsverk U-SH 405. Two launchers of unguided rockets on a rotating turret are fed from mechanized drum-type ammunition racks for 9 rockets each. The commander could choose from two types of warheads, which are available immediately after purchasing the vehicle: high-explosive fragmentation and high-explosive anti-tank, with a penetration of more than 300mm.



Rockets have a fairly high velocity, so that they are able to provide effective fire even at medium range. The most interesting thing is that all 18 rockets in the “drums” of the Raketenautomat could be fired in a two seconds burst, unleashing a salvo of HEAT or HE rounds that is colossal in terms of potential damage. However, reloading the mechanized racks takes a significant amount of time, so firing in long bursts in most cases is not recommended.



The Raketenautomat is built on the chassis of the HS.30 armored personnel carrier, which has quite good speed up to 60 km/h, but lacks any proper armor. A small crew of only three men could also hardly help in surviving the enemy fire.



The Raketenautomat self-propelled gun will take its place at rank V in the German armored vehicle tech-tree in the next War Thunder major update. Follow the Developers Diary series to know more news about the update!

Screenshot Competition!



Welcome to the 67th War Thunder Steam Screenshot Competition!


Beautiful screenshots! Playing alone can be frustrating at times. An extra pair of eyes and twice the firepower can be a welcome advantage in conquering the battlefield! The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

[h2]Let’s begin the 67th edition of our competition![/h2]

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen67. You have time until 19.05.2023 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.


[h3]Terms:[/h3]
    This week is open for all submissions! Any screenshots from War Thunder you would like to share are welcome.
    You must add the #WTscreen67 tag (title cannot have any other text in it).
  • 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.



[h2]And now, time for the winners of the competition’s 66th edition - Battle Buddies![/h2]

[h3]Winners selected via community votes:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2973911914
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972152422
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972841662

[h3]Winners selected by our judges:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2974669926
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972688060
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972464744

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

Responding to your questions and comments (Economy changes)



[h2]The result of the transition to the vehicle rank based economy [/h2]
We have noticed that there is a lack of understanding of the principles of the vehicle rank based economy, such as the differences from the previous system and the benefits achieved. First of all, we would like to note that in the vehicle rank based economy, the same prices and reward multipliers are not set for different vehicles of the same rank, as these are not target parameters, but calculated parameters. These calculated parameters still use some statistical values for calculations. The target parameters in the economy (old and new) are earnings per unit time (from which the reward multiplier will be calculated) and profit/loss per unit time (from which the repair cost will be calculated). Since both targets are given to a unit of time - it becomes clear that to calculate the repair cost and reward multiplier, statistical indicators related to time and actions are used: the average time of a vehicle's life and base reward per unit of time. The goal of the vehicle rank based economy is to bring the values of the target parameters of a vehicle of the same rank to the same value, and this is accomplished by changing the repair cost and reward multiplier and not vice versa.

In the old economy, which was based on vehicle efficiency target values, vehicle statistics were determined based on their efficiency ratio - the ratio of the total base reward of a vehicle to the number of deaths in it. This led to an extremely high repair cost for a number of vehicles. For example, in January 2022, the maximum repair costs of the B-29 and Tu-4 in RB were around 48k and 39k SL and after the current changes, they will drop to 11.5k and 13k SL respectively. The maximum repair cost of the T95 in AB during the same time dropped from 24.7k to 9.2k SL. The same applies to other effective vehicles within the medium ranks: G.56, Sagittario 2, Maus, WZ305, Tiger II (H) etc.

In the table sheet of economy changes, we can clearly see a tendency to decrease repair prices for almost all vehicles of ranks III-V in all game modes (the cells with a decrease in the average repair prices for vehicles of a given nation at a given rank are marked in green).

[h3]Ground Vehicles:[/h3]
[expand]
[/expand]
[h3]Aircraft:[/h3]
[expand]
[/expand]

[h2]Changes to the reward multiplier for Premium vehicles[/h2]
Repair costs and reward multipliers for Premium vehicles change in economic updates by the same principles as researchable vehicles, i.e. all parameters are adjusted to achieve the preset expenses and income per unit of time. The reward multiplier might both increase, in order to increase the income per time to the required level; or decrease, if the vehicle’s income is higher than needed.
For example, in the upcoming update, the reward multiplier in RB for the Kfir Canard, F-4EJ ADTW, as well as the Kfir C.2 and F-4EJ (reference vehicles), will be decreased. Since the last economic update (statistics update), the gameplay circumstances for the mentioned aircraft have changed for the better, which has led to an increase in the base reward per unit of time. Accordingly, with the new data (statistics) update in the upcoming economy update, changing the reward multiplier will adjust earnings to the required level. This works both ways, for example the multiplier in RB mode will be increased for the J-7D, F-104S TAF, MiG-23ML, MiG-21 Lazur and other aircraft.
At the same time, Premium vehicles will always have a specified income higher than researchable vehicles and a reduced repair cost, which sets a positive average balance for these vehicles. Premium vehicles of high ranks both have an increased reward and are profitable, unlike researchable vehicles.


[h2]Some answers for individual questions:[/h2]
Q: Why are the repair costs for helicopters in AB going up? A: At the moment, the main arcade mode for helicopters are the PvE missions in the “Enduring Confrontation” mode which are characterized by weak AI countermeasures and long vehicle lifetimes. This leads to a fairly stable earning of SL and infrequent spending on respawns. To ensure a given level of costs per unit of time, an appropriate repair price is set.

Q: Why do identical aircraft (Tornado IDS Marineflieger and Tornado IDS (1995)) have different repair costs in Realistic Battles? A: The reason is that in reality, these aircraft are not the same. The German Tornado doesn’t have guided weapons and is mainly used in air battles as a strike aircraft to destroy bases. The Italian Tornado has guided weapons and is widely used in ground battles in which the lifetime is significantly lower. To ensure the necessary average spending per unit of time for each of these vehicles, the corresponding repair cost is calculated for them.

Q: Why will the PTL02 be moved to a more appropriate rank but the M46 “Tiger” and PT-76-57 will not? A: Researchable vehicles can, if necessary, move more freely between ranks if their parameters change. In the case of premium (including event) vehicles, you initially receive a vehicle for effective research of vehicles of all previous and one subsequent rank for a predetermined price (in GE, GJN or time spent). As a rule, we don't plan to expand or narrow the scope of effective research of researchable vehicles on premium vehicles that have already been purchased for a specific price.


[h2]Additions to the previously announced changes[/h2]
  • Begleitpanzer 57 — moved to the position after the Radkampfwagen 90.
  • PUMA — moved to the position after the Begleitpanzer 57.
  • SIDAM 25 — moved to rank VI.


The costs for research, purchase and related parameters of a number of ground vehicles can be seen in the table sheet.