War Thunder News

The main feature which makes the Action X one of the more unique variants of the Centurion tank is undoubtedly its turret - a highly unusual one for its time. The turret on the Action X is a so-called ‘mantletless’ turret, which some tankers in War Thunder may know from the FV4202 and Chieftain tanks.



Similarly to those vehicles, the turret on the Action X features very thick and highly sloped surfaces, giving it very decent ballistic protection. In fact, without a slope effect, the toughest parts of the Action X’s turret reach up to 240 mm in thickness. Such formidable armour protection will no doubt present itself as a tough nut to crack for most opponents and is even capable of giving some potent early Cold War ammunition a good run for its money.



However, still being a Centurion tank at its core, aspiring commanders of this machine should bare in mind the weaknesses typically associated with the Centurion - those being average mobility and comparably weak hull protection. In addition, being fitted with the QF 20-pdr (84mm) cannon means that commanders will only have a limited suit of ammunition types available to them. As such, good gunnery skills will be vital in defeating the opponent, especially more heavily armoured ones as every shot needs to count. Fortunately for less experienced tankers, the excellent rate of fire of the 20-pdr cannon may make up for the occasional botched shot sent down range since it allows for quick fire adjustments.

As a result, tankers will be best off utilising the Action X as a rearguard unit, further increasing its effectiveness by cleverly positioning the vehicle in a ‘hull-down’ position. That way, commanders will minimize the risk of less protected hull elements being hit, while only exposing the turret as the most effective part of their armour, thus maximising protection.

Check out the full Dev Blog article here!

Ka-50 is the first, and as of now the only, helicopter in War Thunder that has a coaxial main rotor design. This build has several advantages over the traditional tail rotor design, including improved handling characteristics, manoeuvrability and cargo capacity. Upon reaching its maximum speed of over 300 km/h, the “Black Shark” is able to carry 2,300 kg of ordnance. The most notable features of this helicopter include the wide selection of suspended armaments and possible combinations thereof, the cockpit armour, and the 30mm cannon with its HEF and AP feeds.

In our game, the Ka-50 will be a premium rank VI helicopter in the USSR/Russian tech tree. The “Black Shark” will prove to be the perfect vehicle for many pilots thanks to its range of excellent characteristics one would expect to see in a top-of-the-line machine. There’s a lot to like here: great speed, responsive controls, decent cockpit defences against AA machine gun fire and, of course, a complete arsenal for taking out any type of target. The 30mm cannon installed on the right side may not have a full 360-degree firing arc, but to compensate for that, it can be loaded with a choice of either high-explosive fragmentation or armour-piercing shells. Its destructive power is more than enough to send anti-air guns, light ATGM carriers, and helicopters back to the hangar.





If you are planning an all-out assault on enemy aircraft, be sure to stock up on the air-defence system Igla-1V, which has the best rank among the air-to-air missiles in the entire game. The “Vikhr” ATGMs serve as the primary weapon for taking down armoured targets – you can bring up to 12 of those with you to battle, alongside other ordnance choices, of course. These new-generation missiles can easily take out state-of-the-art tanks fitted with an ERA system from a distance equal to 10,000 metres. The four suspended-armament points also allow the pilots to bring to combat things like unguided rockets, up to 1,000 kg of bombs and gun pods containing 23mm cannons – basically, the stuff that would keep enemy tank commanders occupied and sweating!

Check out the full Dev Blog article here!

Warriors! Command is demanding more ships to be put into service! To achieve it the admiralty has transferred the rights to build the armoured boats to private shipyards.

Get the materials and blueprints from battles, assemble armoured boats for your own fleet or exchange the first or subsequent ones for other new vehicles.


MBK-161 (USSR) premium, rank II
The “Shallow water battleship” features good protection and a brilliant gun setup: two 76mm guns in tank turrets, 45mm utility gun, assisted by 37mm auto cannon and high-calibre MGs! She goes slow, but true!
Will be assembled in the event


Whirlwind P.9 (Britain) premium, rank III
An early twin-engine interceptor design features 4x20mm British Hispano cannons that easily bring down both aerial targets and lightly armored vehicles and ships.
Will be exchanged for 1 MBK-161 coupon


VT1-2 (Germany) event vehicle, rank VI
A unique turretless tank has two 120mm smooth bore guns and extraordinary mobility. We developed the unique feature of targeting by pivoting the hull to make devastation easy and comfortable!
Will be exchanged for 2 vouchers and 4 Sets of Tank blueprints


H-34 (USA) premium, rank V
Known in the French tech tree, the Sikorsky H-34 is finally home! The US version features various carried setups, with rockets and guided missile amongst others.
Will be exchanged for 1 VT1-2 coupon

In the Operation “Shipyard” event, you are assembling the MBK-161 armoured boats that can be exchanged later for other event vehicles.

• After the assembling of the first MBK-161 you will receive a coupon that can be activated to get the MBK-161 (1943), exchanged for the Whirlwind P.9 or can be traded on the market.
  
• The second and following assembled boats you will get as vouchers which you will be able only to exchange for other event vehicles. 1 boat = 1 voucher.
  

https://youtu.be/r4Qz00ng3Pw

Check out the full article here!

Whirlwind P.9 - an experimental pre-production vehicle, the direct ancestor of the British Whirlwind Mk.I heavy fighter. Development of the aircraft began in 1937 and the aircraft in this series had plenty of time to fight against German aircraft and ships during the Battle of Britain. This twin-engine aircraft has a battery of four 20 mm Hispano cannons in its nose, which makes it an effective vehicle for destroying not only air, but also ground and smaller naval targets.

For its size, the Whirlwind maneuvers quite well and is perfect to control. In our game, the Whirlwind P.9 will be a rank III premium heavy fighter in the British lineup.



The H-34 Choctaw is already well known to War Thunder players as an entry level helicopter in the French lineup. During our event, the Choctaw returns to its “historical homeland”, and so accordingly, we present the US version of the helicopter sporting different weaponry compared to its French counterpart. The vehicle first entered service with the US Navy in 1955 and later to the US army (in 1956).

The US version differs from the licensed French version as a result of its weaponry composition - available armament presets include a Bullpup missile paired with a 20 mm gun, a machine gun paired with ‘Mighty Mouse’ Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets, and a collection of machine gun pods, a 20 mm gun, and HVAR rockets.

Vehicles covered will be available in Operation “Shipyard” which we will discuss later.

Check out the full article here!

The project for an experimental turretless tank was started for development in Germany in the early 70’s as part of the replacement program for the Leopard 1. The unusual layout of the “casemate” tank type had several advantages: the possibility of installing two cannons at once, increased protection due to low silhouette and enhanced protection in the hull front profile and also increased mobility due to a reduced weight compared to traditional tanks. As part of this innovative project, two vehicles were built under the general name of Versuchsträger (German: experimental platform). The first VT1-1 prototype was placed on a shortened chassis and was equipped with two 105mm rifled cannons with manual loading.

In War Thunder, the twin-gunned VT1-2 will be located as a tank destroyer at rank VI in the German ground forces research tree. It is the first SPG in the game with two cannons, and as the cannons don’t have any conventional traverse - the cannons are rotated using the whole hull via the tracks. The VT1-2 “top” Rheinmetall L44 120 mm cannons are already well known to players. The choice of shells in the VT1-2 is the same as on the Leopard 2A4. From “stock” you will have DM12 HEATFS shell and after research you will be able to use two APFSDS shells with armour-piercing up to 410 mm! Both cannons have stabilizers in the vertical plane but the reload isn’t synchronized due to the left cannon having an automatic mechanism and will be reloaded a bit faster. The vehicle speed is 70 km/h and its relatively low weight allows it to accelerate and turn the hull pretty quickly.





Currently, the VT1-2 is the most mobile ground vehicle in the game. The key to success on the VT1-2 will be the skilled use of its mobility. It would therefore be wiser to first research the modules and crew skills which are responsible for mobility and turning. As was the case with the actual constructed prototype, the in-game version of the VT1-2 has been modeled without the use of armoured steel, so this “casemate” tank is not exactly capable of boasting the amount of protection it has. Both cannons are capable of firing at a distance of about 1,500 meters, so effective shots can be fired at both close and long ranges. Players are also easily able to aim and shoot with each cannon separately by switching between them, which is also effective given the cannon is among the best available in-game. In general, the VT1-2 might be considered one of the more unusual self-propelled artillery guns in the game, with a great potential to become the best in its vehicle class. It is definitely worth spending the time to get it!

Vehicles covered will be available in Operation “Shipyard” which we will discuss later.

Check out the full article here!