War Thunder News

These Czech Avia S.199 fighters became the aircraft with which Israeli pilots achieved their first aerial victories.
[h2]Avia S.199, fighter, Israel. rank IV.[/h2]
Features:

• Low max speed and climb rate
  
• High flutter threshold
  

[h3]History[/h3]
[expand]Immediately after the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia began to form its own air force. Due to a shortage of aircraft in their possession at the time, Czechoslovakia decided to utilize the spare parts that remained after the war to initiate production on a series of Bf 109 G-10 fighters. The main production issue was caused by the power plant - the original German production run of the DB 605 engine was long over, and it was not profitable for the country to start producing new examples. After the first batch of fighters with DB 605 engines were completed, the decision was made to switch to Jumo 211 engines, as they were much more readily available. This engine was not incredibly suitable for fighters however - it was less powerful than the Daimler, and lacked a synchronizer for forward armament.

The Messerschmitt airframe had to be substantially modified to accommodate the new engine, complete with a new propeller. The resulting Czech fighter, named the S.199, was noticeably inferior in terms of performance to its German predecessor, regardless of this fact though, more than 500 units were produced in total. It soon became obvious that the S.199 was drastically outdated, and there was no country in Europe where the Czechs could sell their new fighter, due to all the leading forces of the world being equipped with much more powerful machines, with most in the process of already developing their own jet aircraft.

Even before the official proclamation of the State of Israel, the procurement commission of the future state signed a contract for 25 disassembled S.199s, and also finalized agreements for a training program for Israeli pilots. On May 28th, 1948, the first ever Israeli fighter group of four S.199s was formed under the leadership of several experienced veteran pilots. The future commander-in-chief of the Israeli Air Force and subsequently the country's president, Ezer Weizman was among these four pilots. The following day after formation, the group took off on their first combat mission to carry out an assault on Egyptian positions. This was the beginning of a short but brilliant career for these Czech-assembled German fighters operating out of Israel, where the plane received the nickname "Sakeen", Hebrew for "Knife"[/expand]

The S.199 fighter will be one of the first aircraft in the Israeli tech tree. It will appear in the hangars of the Israeli Air Force closed beta test pilots with the release of the ‘Winged Lions’ update at rank IV - additionally, rank IV marks the starting point for the Israeli air branch.

The Czech S.199, based on the German Bf 109 G-10, is drastically inferior to the latter in terms of combat effectiveness. The Jumo engine lacks the high power of the original DB 605 and is noticeably heavier. However, the well-designed airframe still retains a very high flutter threshold and makes this fighter to be very adept for "boom & zoom" tactics: where the aircraft dives to gain speed from high altitude on to an enemy below, followed by an upwards zoom to return to relative safety

The S.199 also differs from the Messerschmitt in terms of armament: the S.199 lacks a 20mm motor-cannon, but retains a pair of high caliber MG 131 machine guns and a couple of rifle caliber machine guns in the wings, which can (and should, at the earliest opportunity) be replaced with two classic underwing gunpods containing powerful 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons. The “Sakeen” can also be equipped with several types of small-caliber bombs, the Sd.50, Sd.70 and Sc.50, which are carried externally on several pylons.

This entry-level aircraft will arrive with the release of the ‘Winged Lions’ Major Update. Take part in the closed beta test of Israeli aviation to be among the first to fly and master the various aircraft of this new playable nation!

[h3]Aviation[/h3]

• Display range has been doubled with ground targets when using targeting pods, as well as other aviation electro-optical means.
  

[h3]Other changes[/h3]

• Flight physics of the SACLOS/MCLOS missiles has been specified in accordance with the announced changes (link).
  

Today we would like to tell you about the new effects of the influence of wind in the game environment of War Thunder - smoke, fire, sparks and dust.

The wind has already blown in locations of War Thunder, but before the release of the Winged Lions update, it could only be seen on the grass and on the waves. Now everything will be different! All particle effects, such as fires and smoke, dust from ground vehicles and aircraft engines, gun shots, explosions and sparks - all these effects will now be affected by the wind.



The wind in the game depends on the weather settings. The influence of wind effects is most noticeable during storms, but such weather is rare in War Thunder, and we are looking for a middle ground between a comfortable weather for playing and the beauty of the effects.

We are currently tweaking the weather settings to make the new wind effects more picturesque in the upcoming update. We will continue to make effects better in the following updates too, we have tons of ideas!

[h2]Welcome to the 4th War Thunder Steam Screenshot Competition![/h2]
So many reserve vehicles in one place! Great job soldiers! It was really hard to select the three best! But with an additional three selected from the community votes, we manage to find this week's winners!
Before we announce them, let’s start the 4th edition of our competition!

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub (link for instructions) with the tag #WTscreen04. You have until 12.12.2021 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 - Fire and Smoke[/h2]

[h3]Terms:[/h3]

• Your screenshot needs to be focused on fire and smoke (burning vehicle, fire from barrel, smoke on horizon etc.).
  
• 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).
  
• 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 7 working days.
  

[h2]And now, time for the winners of the competition’s 3rd edition:[/h2]

[h3]Winners selected via community votes:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2669692767
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2668850452
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2668847733
[h3]Winners selected by our judges:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2668294169
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2255551496
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2669205977
Each winner will get 300GE! Congratulations and see you next week!

[h2]Scharnhorst, Battlecruiser, Germany, Rank V[/h2]
[expand]The battleship (or, according to another classification, the battlecruiser) Scharnhorst was the lead ship of the Kriegsmarine battleship series, built at the Wilhelmshaven shipyard and commissioned on January 7th, 1939. Almost immediately after entering service and until the very last day of her combat career, Scharnhorst took an active part in the Kriegmarine combat operations. The battleship was baptized by fire during a sabotage operation near Iceland, where the British Navy's auxiliary ship HMS Rawalpindi, adapted for military operations from an ocean liner, was sunk by her fire. Thereafter, Scharnhorst took part in the invasion of Norway. Here, together with her sister ship Gneisenau, the ships met the British battlecruiser HMS Renown, and after a quick firefight both German ships were forced to retreat due to the technical issues of Scharnhorst and damage to Gneisenau from HMS Renown’s fire. In early summer, German battleships met the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and sank it along with two escort destroyers. In this battle, Scharnhorst received the first significant combat wound from a torpedo from the destroyer, HMS Acasta (H09). After repairs that lasted until the end of 1940, Scharnhorst operated in the Atlantic, destroying Allied commercial ships and tankers.

After a raid of British heavy bombers near the French port of Brest, Scharnhorst was forced to dock for repairs that took the whole of 1941. In the winter of 1942, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, supported by destroyers, torpedo boats and aircraft, made a daring dash along the English Channel into Germany. In March 1942, Scharnhorst was sent to reinforce the battleship Tirpitz for attacks on Arctic convoys. On December 26th, 1943, during an attempt to attack the convoy JW-55B, the battleship was discovered by the cruiser, HMS Belfast, followed by a battle between the convoy escort cruisers and the German battleship. Scouted and illuminated by the escort cruisers, Sharnhorst came under fire from the British battleship HMS Duke of York, the first volleys of which deprived the German of two main battery turrets and damaged the ship's power plant. After a short chase, Scharnhorst was sunk by torpedo attacks from destroyers and short range salvos from HMS Duke of York. Of the 1968 crew members, only 36 survived.[/expand]

Scharnhorst will appear in our game with the release of the next major update as a rank V battlecruiser in the German bluewater fleet research tree. Due to political restrictions, this well-protected and fast ship received “only” 283 mm guns. Within the game, however, Scharnhorst is more than competitive in comparison with other battleships: record protection in the main armour belt area (350 mm armour belt plus 105 mm armoured deck slope), a record maximum speed of 31.65 knots among battleships and battlecruisers, excellent main battery turret defense and a good selection of shells offer gameplay more typical for light cruisers more than battleships.

The auxiliary calibre of the battlecruiser Scharnhorst is single and twin mounts with 150 mm guns, quite well protected as well. Numerous anti-aircraft artillery is represented by twin mounts with 105mm cannons, as well as in 37mm and 20mm autocannons. The weak point of this brilliant ship is the lack of anti-torpedo bulges. The area below the ship's waterline is very vulnerable to torpedoes and artillery fire, hits there often lead to fires and damage to the propellers and rudders.

In other great news for all fleet commanders: in the upcoming update, War Thunder will have mechanics for launching shipbourne reconnaissance aircraft! We plan to have reconnaissance seaplanes on ships of all playable nations, and we will definitely add new aircraft in future major updates. The reconnaissance aircraft will allow you to better examine the enemy grouping, scout a ship hidden behind rocks, fight enemy aircraft, destroy an enemy boat with cannons and machine guns, or damage an enemy cruiser or destroyer with bombs. Just like regular seaplanes, reconnaissance hydroplanes will be able to capture points - a small plane can decide the outcome of a battle for large ships!
Let's see how this mechanic works in the example of the battlecruiser Scharnhorst, which is armed with Arado Ar.196 hydroplanes. When you press the button for activating the reconnaissance aircraft, the catapult starts turning the seaplane to a ready for take off position in the direction set by the player. When the take-off indicator changes color from red to blue - take-off is allowed! Pressing the aircraft control button again will take you to the cockpit, and the ship will continue to move on a preset course at a preset speed. When the situation around the ship requires the participation of the player, press the aircraft control button again - the scout aircraft will be controlled in automatic mode, and you will again find yourself on the ship's bridge. If the reconnaissance aircraft is lost, and the ship has spare aircraft and free catapults, after a certain period of “recharging” , the seaplane will be able to fly out for reconnaissance once again.

For a complete list of reconnaissance seaplanes, as well as the ships on which they will appear in the next update, see the changelog that we will publish on the day of update’s release. We believe that reconnaissance seaplanes will make the battles of big fleets even more interesting, and commanders of sea giants will have something to have fun with during their long maneuvers!