War Thunder News

In the upcoming Red Skies update we are presenting a new location for War Thunder mixed battles that we are calling "Red Desert".



This is a sandstone plateau surrounded by the dunes of a great desert. A small river sources here to quickly dry up under the hot African sun. The life-giving moisture, however, is sufficient for several palm groves and majestic acacias. A small village is located In the centre of the oasis- a couple of dozen houses and a mosque.



This location was inspired from the views of North and Central Africa, and especially the Ennedi Plateau in Chad, formed from sandstone cliffs in the Sahara desert.



The “Red Desert” location will appear in the game with the release of the major update Red Skies very soon!

Take a fresh look at ground battles in War Thunder - through a functional commander sight!

In the upcoming War Thunder major update, we will introduce commander sights for ground vehicles, primarily tanks. The commander's sight is not only an optical observation device, as on tanks of the mid 20th century, but also a complex fire control system, which includes night vision devices, a laser rangefinder, and so on. In order to make ground battles in the game more authentic and atmospheric, we plan to transfer some of the functions that are now implemented in ground vehicle binoculars and in the camera control menu to a specialized device - the commander's sight.



So, the commander's sight is a separate module under the control of the vehicle commander. It has its own rotation axis - for example, the simplest commander's sight in a Soviet T-54 or an observation device on the turret of modern tanks. The commander's sight has its own reticle and magnification, which corresponds to the vehicles in reality. On modern tanks, the commander's sight has its own night vision device or thermal imaging channel, and can also be equipped with a laser rangefinder. In addition, with the view from the commander's sight on some vehicles, a player is able to control an the AA machine gun on the turret.

Using the commander's sight, you can even fire at enemies using ocular refraction, if the vehicle has an eyepiece on the gunner's sight, or is equipped with an independent commander's fire control system. In addition, in Realistic battles we’re adding an automatic input measured distance from the laser rangefinder into the scope, which has already been implemented in Simulator battles - now, with the advent of the commander's scope, this function becomes logical.



Since the commander's sight is a tool at the commander's workstation, if they are wounded, the commander's sight functionality will become unavailable to the rest of the crew. If the gunner or mechanic does not have dual control systems, the vehicle goes blind at night or in bad weather. So for maximum effect, hit the commander in an enemy tank!

What about the binoculars? We plan to leave the binoculars as a purely optical device - with its help it will no longer be possible to use the night vision and thermal imaging channels. In the next updates of the game, we will move the rangefinder functionality from binoculars to the commander sights.

Of course, the commander's sight does not affect third-person view, the view from the gunner's sight or from the binoculars - this is a new type of view to control the vehicle's fire control system. In the control settings menu, there will be new options to assign buttons to turn on/off the commander's sight and related devices and weapons - for example, an IR searchlight, a dual control mode for a cannon and a coaxial or anti-aircraft machine gun, and so on.



We hope that the new feature will please War Thunder tankers. We really like the commander sights and will definitely try to make them more diverse and functional.

The War Thunder Team

A highly versatile early Cold War British naval jet fighter boasting impressive payload capacities.

In War Thunder, the Sea Vixen FAW.2 will be a new jet fighter awaiting pilots at rank V of the British aviation tree in the next major update. The Sea Vixen will be the first aircraft of its kind in the game to feature only guided weapons as its primary means of combating hostile aircraft. However, the Sea Vixen FAW.2 has a lot more to show and some of these things we’ll cover in today’s devblog, so let’s get started!

The Sea Vixen FAW.2 is fitted with a pair of Rolls-Royce Avon Mk.208 turbojet engines which veteran British pilots may already be accustomed to from the well-known Hawker Hunter. Despite featuring no afterburner, resulting in slower acceleration than some other aircraft found at its rank, the Sea Vixen FAW.2 can still produce enough thrust to reach a respectable top speed of about 1,000 km/h at sea level while also managing to maintain a decent climb rate.





The Sea Vixen FAW.2 will be available in the Premium section of the Royal Air Forces with the release of the next major update. In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to the news as we continue unveiling more great new features awaiting you in the upcoming update. Until then, clear skies pilots!

Check out the full Dev Blog article here!

An early 2000’s Chinese SPAA unit, featuring a combined cannon and missile anti-air arsenal coupled with a radar system.

In War Thunder, the PGZ04A will be a new SPAA vehicle awaiting tankers at the top ranks of the Chinese ground forces tree in the next major update coming soon to the game. Armed with a quadruple 25 mm turret and backed by IR missiles and a radar system, the PGZ04A will substantially bolster the Chinese SPAA lineup at the higher ranks and provide its comrades in arms with some truly effective cover from hostile aircraft!

The PGZ04A’s primary armament consists of a quadruple 25 mm turret, equipped with the PG87 cannons which some tankers may recognize from the ZSD63 SPAAG, introduced in a previous update. PG87 cannons are highly regarded for their excellent rate of fire and good ballistic properties, ammo comes in separate belts.





The PGZ04A is soon arriving to the top ranks of the Chinese ground forces tree with the release of the next major War Thunder update. In the meantime, make sure to stay tuned to the news to catch all the latest developments surrounding the upcoming update. Until then, happy hunting tankers!

Check out the full Dev Blog article here!

Introducing the next major update teaser for War Thunder - 'Red Skies'!

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