War Thunder News

On May 29th 1970, the French Milan (“Kite”) jet fighter flew for the first time. This jet was created through an order from the Swiss Air Force and combined the Mirage III base with the Jaguar’s weapons. The core difference of the Milan was the folding canards at the front of the plane, nicknamed the whiskers.


The Milan is available with a 30% discount for 6363 Golden Eagles!



[h3]

When: From May 27th (11:00 GMT) until May 30th (11:00 GMT).
Where: France > Aviation > Premium vehicles.

[/h3]

[h3]About this aircraft[/h3]

• The Milan is a very fast and maneuverable fighter, but is best suited for destroying ground targets thanks to its great payload of up to 3000 kg: air-to-ground missiles, various bombs of several sizes and rockets!
  

[h2]Sound[/h2]

• A bug that caused the crew to call out enemy tanks when measuring the distance to train wagons has been fixed.
  

[h2]Game Mechanics[/h2]

• A bug that caused any missiles installed on the BOL countermeasure pylons to cost 0 Spawn Points in Ground Simulator and Realistic Battles has been fixed. (Report).
  

[h2]Graphics[/h2]

• A bug that caused effects such as fire and smoke to be blurry when using TSR with upscaling has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused the water on some maps in Ground Battles to look pixelated up close has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused traces of hits on tank turrets to move abruptly when rotating the turret has been fixed.
  
• MiG-27M, MiG-27K — a bug that caused ground vehicles in the HUD area to render in at distances much lower than at other directions 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.

Today we’re taking a look at Richelieu, the lead ship of the last class of French battleships built during the 1930s in an effort to counter the latest capital ships of the Italian and German navies.

[h2]Richelieu: A Battleship for France at Rank VII[/h2]
At a glance:

• Powerful 380 mm main battery
  
• Excellent speed
  
• Vast secondary arsenal
  
• Strong armor protection
  

Vehicle History
Richelieu was a French battleship laid down in 1935 and commissioned in 1940 as the lead ship of a new class of French battleships built in response to the naval buildup of Italy and Germany. Her design went to the limit imposed by the Washington naval treaty, featuring eight 380 mm (15‘‘) guns and a displacement of around 37,000 tons. The warship inherited a similar configuration to the preceding Dunkerque, an intentional design choice meant to save weight and reduce building time.

At the outbreak of the Second World war, Richelieu was still undergoing trials and rushed to Dakar to avoid falling into German hands during the 1940 armistice. In July 1940, British forces attacked Richelieu during Operation Catapult, damaging her to prevent her use by the Vichy regime. She remained at Dakar under Vichy control until 1942, when the Allied invasion of North Africa shifted political alignments. After joining the Free French, Richelieu was ferried over to the U.S. to undergo extensive refits. Richelieu was thereafter modernized with an improved radar, AA defenses, and American fire-control systems. Richelieu subsequently served with the British Eastern Fleet, escorting carriers and bombarding Japanese-held positions in the Indian Ocean and later supporting operations in Southeast Asia.

After the war, Richelieu represented French naval power during a transitional period, briefly supporting colonial operations before being placed in reserve. Technologically advanced for her time but soon rendered obsolete by air power and missile technology, she was decommissioned in 1968 and scrapped shortly after.




[h2]Introducing Richelieu![/h2]

In War Thunder, Richelieu will soon join the ranks of the French bluewater fleet as its next top bluewater warship. Representing a further developed and upscaled version of an unorthodox ship design first pioneered by the French by Dunkerque, Richelieu brings with it significant improvements to both firepower and protection, making for a highly potent warship, worthy of representing French naval power in top rank battles. Let’s dive in!



Although Richelieu and Dunkerque share many design principles, also reflected in their visual appearance, don’t mistake them for being identical! In fact, French shipbuilders merely based Richelieu off Dunkerque’s design while scaling the specifications up to match its counterparts of the day. The most prominent example of this can be observed in the ship’s main battery. Although retaining the two bow-mounted quadruple turret layout, these have been upgraded to 15’’ (380 mm) caliber, thus significantly improving their range and effectiveness against more heavily armored opponents. The secondary battery is also upgunned to nine 6’’ (152 mm) cannons, thus further improving the warship’s deadliness in gun duels. Coming to the game in its late war refit, Richelieu will also feature a substantially bolstered anti-air suite composed of a total of 56 x 40 mm and 48 x 20 mm cannons in addition to its original 12 x 100 mm long-range anti-air cannons.

Interesting: Richelieu stands out as the only French battleship to serve actively with both Vichy and Allied forces during the war.



In addition to a deadly arsenal, French ship builders didn’t omit including improvements to other aspects of the warship either. For instance, Richelieu’s belt armor was increased to 330 mm, allowing it to effectively shield the warship’s critical compartments and modules from high caliber enemy fire even at medium range engagements. Additionally, despite having a higher displacement than its predecessor, Richelieu also features a more powerful propulsion system which in turn allows the ship to reach a top speed of just over 32 kts (59 km/h). As a result, Richelieu is most capable of leading the charge together with its allies thanks to its superb combination of firepower, gun layout, mobility and protection — a true steel wedge to cut through the enemy lines!



That’s it for this one! Richelieu has set course for War Thunder naval battles and is due to arrive in the next major update. In the meantime, keep scanning the news section as we continue to release new info on the upcoming update. Until then, calm seas and good hunting captains!

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

[h2]Naval Vessels[/h2]

• A bug where it was impossible to disable automatic repairs, fire extinguishing and water pumping in some cases when joining an ongoing battle has been fixed. (Report).
  

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• A bug where Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters might have started to appear as translucent squares on DX12 has been fixed.
  

[h2]Locations and Missions[/h2]

• [Domination] South Kvarken — the lower Battle Rating limit has been decreased from 3.7 to 3.3. The upper Battle Rating limit has been decreased from 5.0 to 4.3.
  

[h2]Sound[/h2]

• A bug where the sounds of engines, tracks and gunshots would not play when spectating other players has been fixed.
  

[h2]Other[/h2]

• A bug that could sometimes cause a player to be kicked from the battle after launching the client 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.

Your collection of screenshots submitted last week looked fantastic! As designs improved through history, many planes, tanks and ships became bigger and more capable than their previous generations. This week, capture a heavy tank, bomber, or a ship from the bluewater fleet! The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

[h2]Let’s begin the 173rd edition of our competition![/h2]

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen173. You have time until the 30th of May 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]

Your screenshot must include a light tank, fighter, or coastal fleet vehicle.
You must add the #WTscreen173 tag (title cannot have any other text in it).
Artists may only win by popular vote once per four screenshot competitions.
• 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 172nd edition – Steel Giants![/h2]

[h3]Winners selected via community votes:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3483244627
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3485043584
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3482961203

[h3]Winners selected by our judges:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3484981477
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3483329082
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3484062397

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