War Thunder News

The XM1 (GM) Returns for Operation Desert Storm’s Anniversary!

[p][/p][p][/p][p]On January 17th, 1991, the international coalition launched Operation Desert Storm, a response to Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait. The operation began with a large-scale bombing campaign targeting Iraqi air defenses and infrastructure, until February 24th, when ground forces were deployed. In just four days, they achieved a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. This operation saw M1 Abrams main battle tanks undergo their baptism of fire, demonstrating their superiority on the battlefield.[/p][p][/p][h2]The XM1 (GM) returns and is available at a temporary 30% discount for 6,111 Golden Eagles![/h2][p][/p]

[p]The XM1 (GM) will remain available for purchase after this promotion ends at the regular price.[/p]

[h3][/h3]

[p]When: From January 16th (11:00 GMT) until January 19th (11:00 GMT).[/p][p]Where: USA > Army > Premium vehicles.[/p]

[p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][h3]About this tank[/h3]

[p]The XM1 is an experimental prototype whose developments formed the basis for the M1 Abrams main battle tank. It boasts impressive speed and maneuverability, allowing it to take advantageous positions on the battlefield and capture objectives quickly. Its 105 mm gun features a dual-plane stabilizer, along with a thermal imager and laser rangefinder aid in target acquisition.
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Server Update 16.01.2026

[p][/p][h3]Aircraft[/h3]

[p]MiG-27K, MiG-27M — the restriction on the combined use of munitions with Laser and TV seekers has been removed.[/p]
[p]F-106A — the drag chute rip off speed has been increased from 220 km/h to 320 km/h.[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Ground Vehicles[/h3]

[p]BMPT, BMPT-72 — the part of the 30 mm cannon belt located outside of the vehicle is now separated from the part of the belt located inside the vehicle. The fire or explosion of the internal part of the belt now leads to the destruction of the vehicle. The fire or explosion of the external part of the belt can seriously damage the external modules.
The erroneously missing ATGM launcher stabilizer has been added.
A bug that caused the autoloader sound to play when reloading ATGMs has been fixed. (Report).[/p]
[p]BMPT — a bug that caused the destruction of the Power System module to not disable the FCS has been fixed. (Report).[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Locations and Missions[/h3]

[p]Franz Josef Land — a bug that sometimes caused the ship to spawn in another ship on the Southern spawn point of the Eastern team has been fixed. (Report).[/p]
[p]\[Battle] European Province — a bug that caused the playable area in the mission to not include the whole playable area indicated on the minimap has been fixed. (Report).[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Interface[/h3]

[p]A bug that caused temporarily available for purchase vehicles to not display in the tech tree until the player switched the vehicle preset has been fixed.[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Customization and Achievements[/h3]

[p]FSAF SAMP/T (Mamba) (TEL) — a bug that caused the Modern desert camouflage to not apply to the TEL vehicle has been fixed. (Report).[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p]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.[/p]

Update 2.53.0.52

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]Aircraft[/h3]

[p]With the release of one of the previous server updates, a bug that caused direct hits of AAMs and SAMs on aircraft to deal too little damage has been fixed.[/p]
[p]F-106A — the maximum drag chute opening speed has been increased from 200 km/h to 296 km/h. (Report).[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Ground Vehicles[/h3]

[p]A bug that sometimes caused hits from HEAT projectiles to generate no spall has been fixed. (Report).[/p]
[p]BMPT-72 — an issue where the commander’s sight camera was slightly offset to the side when both the “aim mode” was enabled and disabled has been fixed. An issue where the commander’s sight camera could not be moved to the left when zooming in has been fixed. (Report).[/p]
[p]TOG II — a bug that caused smoke grenades fired from the turret mortar to fly in the direction of the hull rather than the turret has been fixed. (Report).[/p]
[p]Mark V — a bug where the left gun barrel model did not rotate along with the breech and gun mount has been fixed. (Report).[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Locations and Missions[/h3]

[p]\[Domination] African Gulf — a bug where Bluewater fleet ships could appear outside of the playable area has been fixed. (Report).[/p]
[p]Sinai — a bug that caused the minimap to be semi-transparent has been fixed.[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Appearance and Achievements[/h3]

[p]AGS — the condition for using the “Snow w/Open Terrain camouflage MERDC” camouflage has been adjusted from forest to winter. (Report).[/p]
[p]MiG-29N (Japan) — a bug where the aircraft received achievements for German vehicles instead of Malaysian vehicles has been fixed. (Report).[/p]

The SAV 20.12.48 for Swedish Armed Forces Day!

[p][/p][p]The history of the modern Swedish kingdom dates back to 1523, when Gustav Vasa declared the country’s independence and became its king. The first armed forces of independent Sweden were Vasa’s personal bodyguards, volunteers who enlisted in his service on January 14th 1521. A hundred years later, King Gustav II Adolf transformed his troops into a regular, disciplined army, and thanks to the coordination of various branches of the armed forces and new tactics, became one of the best in Europe. [/p][p][/p][h2]The SAV 20.12.48 is temporarily available for 1,300 Golden Eagles![/h2][h3][/h3]

[p]When: From January 14th (11:00 GMT) until January 17th (11:00 GMT).[/p][p]Where: Sweden > Army > Premium vehicles.[/p]

[p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][h3]About this tank[/h3]

[p]In the late 1940s, Bofors created an experimental 120 mm naval gun, and mounted it on a tank chassis. The SAV 20.12.48 never went into mass production, but you can try it out in War Thunder! It’s a fast and maneuverable vehicle with an unexpectedly high rate of fire, reloading in just 1.2 seconds!
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Server Update 13.01.2026

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]Aircraft[/h3]

[p]Su-27/30 family of aircraft (J-11, Su-33, Su-34 included) — excessive sustained turn rate caused by the change in stability, balance, and relaxing of the elevator has been reduced.[/p]
[p]J-10C — a bug that caused the AESA radar to not maintain the track files for targets outside of the current scan area has been fixed. (Report).[/p]
[p]Gladiator (all variants), J8A — a bug that caused the engine RPM to be too low at low speeds has been fixed.[/p]
[p]DB-3 (all variants), IL-4, Potez 630, Potez 631, Potez 633 — a bug that caused the engine fire system to be available without installing the EFS modification has been fixed. (Report, Report, Report).[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Ground Vehicles[/h3]

[p]BMPT, BMPT-72 — the Battle Rating in all modes has been increased from 10.7 to 11.3. After looking into the effectiveness of both BMPTs after the previous change to their Battle Ratings, we decided to raise their BRs by 2 steps and release the change before the planned Battle Ratings changes that we normally do, which are going to happen in the near future.[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Interface[/h3]

[p]A bug that caused the target markers on the radar PPI (radial display) to become less visible in TWS mode has been fixed.[/p]
[p]A bug that caused the number of machine guns or cannons in the stat cards of some vehicles to be incorrect has been fixed. (Report).[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Locations and Missions[/h3]

[p]A bug that caused the minimap of some locations to be semi-transparent has been fixed. (Report).[/p]
[p]\[Operation] Saipan — air spawns have been forced on so that all aircraft can spawn in the mission and to make the initial conditions more fair.[/p]