War Thunder News

When Emperor Meiji regained real power, he decided to introduce a national holiday to honor the emperors. The occasion was the accession to the throne of Jimmu, the legendary first ruler of Japan. In 1872, this day was celebrated on the first day of the Lunar year, which then fell on January 29th, but the following year Japan switched to the Gregorian calendar, and February 11th was chosen as the date. In 1966, the date was again decided to be a holiday, but instead was given the different and less imperial name of National Foundation Day.

To get to the Gaijin Store through Steam, go to the in-game hangar > Shop > Online Store!

From today until February 18th (11:00 GMT).

These packs are available at a 50% discount!

• Type 16 (FPS) Pack
  
• Type 90B "Fuji" Pack
  
• IJN Yamashiro Pack
  
• T-2 Early Pack (only during this sale!)
  

The IJN Kiyoshimo is temporarily available for 4880 Golden Eagles and the A6M5 Ko and J2M4 Kai are temporarily available for 3850 Golden Eagles each!

When: From today until February 18th (11:00 GMT).
Where: Japan > Bluewater fleet / Aviation > Premium vehicles.

[h3]About these vehicles[/h3]

• IJN Kiyoshimo (rank III) is one of the last destroyers built by Japan during World War II. This destroyer features three main turrets with 127 mm guns for fire at enemy ships. Additionally it is agile and has an excellent amount of anti-aircraft weaponry, capable of protecting allies from attacks by enemy aircraft. It also features destructive 16 x 610 mm torpedoes!
  

• The A6M5 Ko (rank IV) is based on the A6M5 with more ammunition, raising the amount from 200 to 250 shells. This is an ideal aircraft for turn fighting against enemies, or bombing enemy tanks with 250 kg or two 60 kg bombs if needed!
  

• J2M4 Kai (rank IV) is a variant of the Mitsubishi J2M4 Raiden with a more powerful engine, characterized by increased speed and rate of climb. As for guns, the J2M4 features four 20 mm cannons with a combined total of 680 rounds, more than enough for taking out several enemies.
  

Get yourself this cool decal by completing the below task.

“Symbols of Japan” decal

When: From today until February 18th (11:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles using Japanese vehicles at rank III or above to receive the “Symbols of Japan” decal!

Additional details:

• Your activity must not be below 70%.
  
• You can complete the task in random battles, except for Enduring Confrontation missions, [Assault] mode and Helicopter PVE battles.
  
• Track your progress in the hangar by clicking Nickname → Achievements → Holidays → Founding Day of the State in Japan.
  
• You can find the decal in the “Holidays” tab in the customization menu.
  

[h2]We’ve also prepared something interesting for you on our social media channels. Be sure to pay them a visit! [/h2]



After activating the key, you’ll find the following tasks in the Achievements > Holidays > National Foundation Day in Japan section. From today until February 18th (11:00 GMT):

• Earn a total of 20,000 mission points while playing with Japanese vehicles at rank III or higher in Ground Battles to get the Omaneko dakimakura (normal edition) decoration.
  
• Earn a total of 40,000 mission points while playing with Japanese vehicles at rank III or higher in Ground Battles to get the Omaneko dakimakura (limited edition) decoration.
  

[h2]Aircraft[/h2]

• F-15 (all variants) — a bug where it was impossible to apply a decal to one part of the air intakes has been fixed.
  
• Su-25, Su-25K — a bug where the armor penetration values of the Kh-25, S-25OF and S-25OFM rockets was not indicated has been fixed.
  

[h2]Ground Vehicles[/h2]

• Osa-AKM, ItO 90M — a bug where the radar search angles did not match in the X-ray menu and in battle has been fixed.
  
• Khrizantema-S — a bug where only the second missile fired, not the first guided to the target after capturing an enemy vehicle has been fixed. (Report).
  
• A bug where smoke from the engine could continue to come out of the exhaust pipes when a vehicle was destroyed has been fixed.
  
• Display of targeting tracking angles in the radar interface has been fixed.
  
• A bug where using a custom scope would cause the new range to show instantly without delay has been fixed. (Report).
  

[h2]Graphics[/h2]

• Clouds being too low in aircraft missions, leading to problems with landing or attacking vehicles in cloudy conditions has been fixed.
  
• Reflections in water in rainy and foggy weather with RT enabled in the graphics settings has been fixed.
  

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• A bug that caused the “Processing operation” message to repeatedly appear after clicking on a vehicle in the convertible research points window that had been removed from research 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.

We loved seeing all of your screenshots that you captured and shared with us last week, thank you! This week we return to the beach! You can capture a screenshot with any vehicle of your choice as long as there is a shoreline. The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

[h2]Let’s begin the 158th edition of our competition![/h2]

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen158. You have time until the 14th of February 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 player vehicle, and a shoreline.
You must add the #WTscreen158 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 157th edition – Your Favorite![/h2]

[h3]Winners selected via community votes:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3418904866
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3420224774
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3418736546

[h3]Winners selected by our judges:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3418585985
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3421630667
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3418980601

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

Hello everyone! Today we’re very happy to be able to present a new series of historical decals for you to unlock. We’ve been working on returning these decals for a while now, and this series will have a few changes compared to the previous run. This initial post will be a bit longer, bear with us!

[h3]The Format[/h3]
This time around, we’ll aim to add a set of historical markings once a month instead, and there’s a few reasons for this. Chiefly, it gives everyone interested in the decals a longer amount of time to unlock them, as previously many players weren’t able to get the markings. This also ensures that we don’t actually run out of possible additions. Some nations do indeed have a huge amount of options, others however have a very small amount. To make sure that we can keep adding emblems across the board for everyone for the foreseeable future, we’ll have 10 per month — 5 new emblems and 5 emblems from previous events, that way new players will be able to unlock some old emblems they wouldn’t have been able to get previously as well.

[h3]Unlock Requirements[/h3]
We’ve made the unlock requirements slightly longer this time around to compensate for the extended duration, though not by a huge amount. The unlock requirements will be simple: frags, missions played, score earned, things that are universally achievable. Some special markings will be a little more challenging such as finishing at a certain position on the leaderboard, but in general the requirements will be simple and able to be achieved gradually as you play normally. 

[h3]Open to ideas![/h3]
While we have many months worth of decals created and planned, you’re welcome to leave your own suggestions on the forum here. For a marking to be considered, we’ll need clear historical references (clear enough to be able to accurately make the decal) along with as many sources and references as possible. Going forward we want to avoid any divisional or formal markings belonging to currently active units. Though personal markings, modern insignia of deactivated units, or older versions of emblems used by active units will generally be fine. No promises of course, but if you can find some interesting examples (especially for nations that have fewer options in general) we can potentially include some down the line.

The following decals will be available from February 7th at 11:00 GMT until March 7th 09:00 GMT.

You can track the progress of completing tasks for these decals by going to your Player Profile > Decals > Monthly Decals. From here, click the “Track progress” button on each decal to track from the hangar.







Monthly markings can be found in a special tab in the customization menu, (Monthly Decals) after a month, they’ll be moved to their corresponding category.

All of the emblems will come with a detailed description. This will generally consist of the history of the marking, its design, which vehicles used it, and where it was often placed on vehicles historically if applicable (some emblems are taken from badges, which weren’t always applied). This way you can more easily recreate the original positioning if you’d like. In addition to tasks, all markings can be purchased for 200 Golden Eagles as well.

Thank you for reading, enjoy and let us know your thoughts!

Meet the protagonist in the Freedom Fighter event: the Norwegian F-5A(G) multi-role jet fighter!

[h2]F-5A(G): An Event Vehicle Jet Fighter for Sweden at Rank VII[/h2]
At a glance:

• AIM-9L Sidewinders!
  
• Penguin Mk.3 guided missile.
  
• Countermeasures.
  
• RWR.
  
• Unique camouflage on the missiles!
  

Vehicle History
[expand]
The first foreign operator of the F-5A jet fighter was the Royal Norwegian Air Force. At request from the Norwegians, an export modification was developed for operation from Arctic airfields. Deliveries of the aircraft began in 1966, and several air squadrons were equipped with the F-5A and two-seat F-5B. During upgrades, this Norwegian variant received an updated cockpit, a new sighting system with the ability to control advanced weaponry such as the AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and Penguin anti-ship missiles, an RWR and countermeasure pods. The F-5A was in service with the Norwegian Air Force until December 31st 2007 and also took part in the Eye of the Tiger (EoT) program, where the aircraft tested anti-ship guided missiles.
[/expand]



[h2]Introducing the F-5A(G)![/h2]

The Norwegian F-5A(G) has arrived to War Thunder in the Freedom Fighter event! This is a very special variant of the F-5 with new combat capabilities and a cool unique camouflage. Let’s take a look at the details!



The F-5A(G) is an export modification of the American Northrop F-5A jet fighter, developed for the Norwegian Air Force and represented in its latest modification when it participated in testing anti-ship missiles. This Norwegian variant differs from the American one both externally and internally — the shape of the nose cone has changed, the pods for launching countermeasures are located on the vertical stabilizer, and a tail hook was added!



There has been some improvements in the weaponry department as well. Instead of the early rear-aspect AIM-9E air-to-air missile, the F-5A(G) is capable of carrying two all-aspect AIM-9L missiles with an increased launch range and a much higher maximum overload. In addition to this, the central pylon under the fuselage can hold the new Penguin anti-ship missile with IR+IOG guidance. Despite ships being the intended target, this heavy missile with a large explosive load can combat tanks in Ground Battles — capture a target from a long distance and then fire the missile, which will then operate in “fire and forget” mode. The destructive power is enough to destroy any tank upon impact!



For flight performance, the F-5A(G) retains all the great features of the F-5 series. That’s excellent maneuverability, high resistance to overloads, a good rate of climb and fast-firing 20 mm cannons. In addition to the guided weaponry mentioned above, the F-5A(G) can also carry regular and incendiary bombs, plus Zuni and Mighty Mouse rockets.

That’s it for this one! The Norwegian F-5A(G) is the main reward in the Freedom Fighter event that started today, featuring a special Eye of the Tiger camouflage, with a grinning tiger on the vertical stabilizer and tiger stripes on the fuselage, external fuel tanks and even Sidewinder missiles!

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

Click here to find out more details about the Freedom Fighter event