1. War Thunder
  2. News

War Thunder News

Grumman F-14B Tomcat: The Bombcat



A new top-tier US naval jet fighter that comes equipped with more powerful engines and new weapons!

[h2]F-14B Tomcat, jet fighter, USA, rank VIII[/h2]

Features:
  • Better thrust and climb rate
  • Gorgeous AIM-54 Phoenix missiles
  • Guided bombs
  • TISEO (Target Identification System, Electro Optical)

Today we'll talk about the top-tier US naval fighter, which will be added to the game in the next major War Thunder update. So, meet the F-14B, a modified version of the formidable F-14A - a significantly expanded arsenal of weapons and improved rate of climb.

The upgraded version of the Tomcat received new, more high-torque engines, which give the fighter a noticeable increase in climb rate to about 225 m/s, while maintaining approximately the same speed and fuel consumption as the F-14A version. An interesting option for fans of Simulation Battles will be the TISEO optical target identification system. This system allows you to view the target acquired by the radar on the monitor in the cockpit, if the enemy aircraft is not too far away. However, the main good news for American pilots is the improved armament of the F-14B!



So, for air combat, the main specialty of the F-14, the new version is equipped with more advanced AIM-9L air-to-air missiles (up to four), a later version of the Sparrow missile AIM-7M (up to six), as well as two modifications of the magnificent Phoenix long range missiles: the AIM-54A and the new AIM-54C with an improved inertial navigation system, which improves the accuracy of the cruising to the target at medium and long distances. Both Phoenixes can also be taken into battle up to six missiles at once.

Interesting: The F-14B Tomcat is sometimes called the “Bombcat” since it was the first fighter of the series, which could be equipped first with conventional, and then with other types of aircraft bombs.



But that is not all! The F-14B can be equipped with a LANTIRN targeting pod, which turns the Tomcat into a true reaper of ground vehicles. Guided bombs of the Paveway II family, the GBU-12, GBU-16 and heavy GBU-10, with laser seekers are accurate and deadly weapons to destroy any tank on the battlefield. In addition to guided bombs, the aircraft can also be equipped with the good old Zuni rockets as well as conventional free-fall bombs in calibers up to 2,000 pounds. A nice addition will be the ability to use the already familiar Bol countermeasure pods with 160 charges each. Use the weapon configurator to setup your perfect set for each game mode! Well, and a small spoiler alert - the aircraft will also be equipped with a new to the game type of weapon, which we will present to you soon!

The ultimate US naval jet fighter is coming to the game together with the release of the next major update - it's coming soon, it's going to be exciting! Stay tuned to our Dev Diaries series to learn more!

Screenshot Competition - Battle Buddies!



Welcome to the 66th War Thunder Steam Screenshot Competition!


Last week we hosted a screenshot competition without a theme. We wanted to see what all of you wanted to share with us! Looking at all of the submissions, we have some great artists sharing their screenshots with all of us! The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

[h2]Let’s begin the 64th edition of our competition![/h2]

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen66. You have time until 12.05.2023 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.


[h2]Important addition: Screenshot theme - Battle Buddies![/h2]

[h3]Terms:[/h3]
    Your screenshot must include two or more player vehicles.
    You must add the #WTscreen66 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 65th edition:[/h2]

[h3]Winners selected via community votes:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2968693299
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2968766062
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2969069331

[h3]Winners selected by our judges:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2969545187
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2970300359
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2969091920

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

War Thunder — Now on your Smartphone!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Large-scale military vehicular combat is now accessible right on your mobile phones globally! The Open Beta test has begun with War Thunder Mobile for Android portable devices and we invite all interested players to download the APK file from the official web site of the game.

WT Mobile Website

There are hot tank and naval battles with aviation support already in game with up to 20 players in each battle! And that is real War Thunder combat experience - without compromise!



In one battle, mobile gamers can feel both the power of a heavy tank breaching walls and trees, or the inertia of a 50,000 tonne dreadnought and the adrenaline in a quick and manoeuvrable dogfight of an interceptor pursuing an enemy bomber.

Until recently, one could not dream of having such combined battles in a mobile game. In order to destroy enemy vehicles players need to study their specifics, the placement of their key equipment modules and armament details. Quality combat physics and no “healthbars”!



Smartphone users can finally enjoy dynamic and realistic War Thunder battles in known locations with proper shell ballistics and a detailed indication of the armour penetration process, splinter trajectories and crew and equipment damage.

When working on a mobile version of the game, we carefully transferred all that makes War Thunder a unique game. At the same time, we adapted the interface, vehicle controls and progression mechanics to make the game comfortable for mobile players.

Of the thousands of military vehicles models presented in War Thunder, we selected the most interesting and famous ones for the mobile game. Altogether, at the Beta test start, you can enjoy more than 200 different armoured ground vehicles, ships and aircraft.



You can control light, medium and heavy tanks, self-propelled and anti-aircraft artillery, fighters and bombers, destroyers, cruisers and dreadnoughts. And in naval battles we have already added even submarines with their own special gameplay!

Currently, there are military vehicles from the USA, USSR, Britain, Germany, France and Japan from World War II and some early Cold War years. We will continue to add new famous vehicles up to some of the most modern ones!

A Beta-test progress wipe isn’t planned in the future. Any game currency purchased during previous alpha test will be credited to your account in Beta. Both alpha-testers and beta-testers will get special gifts when the game is released, and all participants of the alpha-testing will additionally get 3 days of Premium account!

Supported Devices
War Thunder Mobile can be played on most Android 10 and later devices with a minimum of 4 GB RAM. On the newest smartphones with Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 from Qualcomm Technologies, we support the newly announced real-time Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing - a technology that will enhance overall visual quality and immersion by adding ray-traced smooth shadows with realistic penumbras, translucency, self-shadowing, and other effects ensuring great player combat immersion.

Currently the game can be installed by downloading the APK file. Release of War Thunder Mobile in Google Play, as well as in the AppStore for iOS is planned in the nearest future.

See you all in the battle — anywhere!

May Sale in the Gaijin Store!



[h2]From the 5th of May at 11:00 GMT until the 12th of May at 11:00 GMT[/h2]

[h2]Bundles and standalone packs with a discount![/h2]

To celebrate ‘Victory in Europe’ Day, we are temporarily returning rare bundles with themed vehicles to the store! You can also find huge discounts for individual packs of high rank vehicles, some of which will be removed from the store after the sale. Add top vehicle packs to your collection — for a great price!

[h3]To purchase any of these packs, click Shop > Online Store whilst in the in-game hangar.[/h3]


[h2]"Wings of Victory" bundle -30%[/h2]
  • Dolgushin's La-7 Pack;
  • Golovachev's Yak-9M Pack;
  • Prendergast`s Spitfire FR Mk.XIVe Pack;
  • Plagis' Spitfire Mk. IXc Pack;
  • Bostwick's P-47M-1-RE Thunderbolt Pack;
  • Wetmore`s P-51D-10 Pack.


[h2]"Tracks of Victory" bundle -30%[/h2]
  • A43 Black Prince Pack;
  • M10 Achilles Pack;
  • IS-2 Revenge for the Hero brother Pack;
  • T-34-85E, 1945 Pack;
  • M18 Black Cat Pack;
  • М5А1 5th Canadian Armoured Division Pack.


[h2]"Weapons of Victory" bundle -50%[/h2]
  • Dolgushin's La-7 Pack,
  • Golovachev's Yak-9M Pack;
  • Prendergast`s Spitfire FR Mk.XIVe Pack;
  • Plagis' Spitfire Mk. IXc Pack;
  • Bostwick's P-47M-1-RE Thunderbolt Pack;
  • Wetmore`s P-51D-10 Pack;
  • A43 Black Prince Pack;
  • M10 Achilles Pack;
  • IS-2 Revenge for the Hero brother Pack;
  • T-34-85E, 1945 Pack;
  • M18 Black Cat Pack;
  • М5А1 5th Canadian Armored Division Pack.
The final price of the bundle will depend on whether you already have some of the packs or not. Be sure to login to the store to see your individual price!

PlayStation and Xbox users will be able to purchase these packs and discounted bundles from their respective stores till the end of May.

[h2]50% discounts for high rank vehicle packs![/h2]
  • T-2 Pack
  • AH-64A Apache Pack
  • Rooivalk Pack
  • Su-25K Pack
  • VRCC Centauro Pack
  • Leopard 2A4 Pack
  • Z-19E Pack
  • Challenger DS Pack
  • A-10A Thunderbolt (Early) Pack
  • Type 96A Prototype Pack
  • Dassault Milan Pack
  • Merkava Mk.2D Pack
  • MiG-21 SPS-K Pack
  • A-4E IAF Pack
  • Draken Pack
  • A-5C Pack
  • F-5C Pack
  • Su-7BMK Pack
  • AV-8A Harrier Pack
  • T-72AV (TURMS-T) Pack
  • CV 90105 XC-8 Pack
  • Rooikat 105 Pack
  • Black Shark Pack
  • Super AMX-30 Pack
  • T-55AM-1 Pack
  • Leopard Pack
  • XM-1 General Motors Pack

These discounts are only available in the Gaijin Store. Some of these packs are also available 50% discounted in the PlayStation™Store till May 10th.

[h2]
The packs below will be removed from the store after the sale (on all platforms):
[/h2]
  • Dassault Milan Pack
  • Su-7BMK Pack
  • MiG-21 SPS-K Pack
  • T-2 Pack
  • A-4E IAF Pack
  • Draken Pack

Victory Day in War Thunder



Victory! Many allied countries spent years with trials and tribulations to end the bloodiest war in the history of humanity, and in early May of 1945 their efforts finally bore fruit. This victory is the most important event of the XXth century that is remembered and celebrated today by tens of millions of people. Join us in War Thunder to commemorate this event!

[h2]
From May 5th until May 10th (11:00 GMT) play War Thunder and receive rewards!
[/h2]





"Poster with a soldier" decal

Maxim–Tokarev machine gun decoration for ground vehicles

120-PM-38 naval decoration



Play 3 battles (with activity of no less than 70%).

Earn 20000 points in total while controlling vehicles of rank III and higher in tank battles.

Earn 10000 points in total while controlling vehicles of rank III and higher in naval battles.



You can check your task progress by clicking on your nickname → Achievements → Victory Day.

In the in-game item shop you can find trophies that contain decorations of Allied weaponry or decals that you still don’t have. The decals represent three main Soviet military memorials: "Rear-front", "Motherland" and "Warrior Liberator". Decorations: Bren Mk II, ROKS-3, M1 Garand, SG-43, and Matilda II (for large vessels).

Discounts in shop

From May 5th until May 12th in the Gaijin.Net store you’ll find discounts for many high rank vehicle packs, as well as rare thematic bundles commemorating Victory Day!

Legend of Victory: BM-31-12 “Andryusha”


[h3]
From May 10th until May 22nd participate in the Legend of Victory event and earn decals, decorations, and the unique BM-31-12, younger brother of the legendary Katyusha!
[/h3]

The BM-31-12 was designed to fire the heavy M-31 300mm unguided rockets. Guidance and launch are carried out with a welded framework of 12 rails mounted on the chassis of the Studebaker military truck. The machine was successfully tested in the spring of 1944 and was put into service in June under the designation BM-31-12. In the troops, by analogy with the Katyusha MLRS, the new vehicle was nicknamed Andryusha (“little Andrey” in Russian). It was widely used in the battles of the final stages of WWII in Europe, including the urban battles as a fire support for Soviet storming troops. In total, the Red Army received 1,807 BM-31-12 Andryusha vehicles until the end of the war.

Details

Victory Tournament Series

Take part in each of 7 tournaments of the Victory series to earn decals, titles, and a part of the 70 000 GE prize pool.

May 6th

May 7th

May 8th

May 9th



”Allies” decal


”Victory star” decal

Let’s celebrate together!