Armored Warfare News

Commanders!

Today, we’d like to tell you more about another epic historical skin that we’ve prepared for you – Leclerc Tropicalisé.



Leclerc Tropicalisé (or Tropicalized Leclerc) is a Leclerc version produced for the UAE between 1994 and 2000 with 388 combat tanks delivered (as well as four dozen other versions). The biggest difference between this tank and the French Leclerc is the engine – the sheiks opted for a more universal power plant, the German MTU 883 1.500hp V12 diesel coupled with Renk HSWL 295TM automatic transmission. The decision was likely influenced by the fact that MTU has close ties to the UAE.



This combination is known under the name of EuroPowerPack and is offered as a universal solution for multiple tanks (including the Challenger 2, the Leclerc and the Merkavas). It’s a fairly compact power pack that takes less space than other engines of this output category. Its inclusion, however, meant that the engine compartment of the Leclerc had to be re-designed and these tanks are easily recognized by their different engine decks.

Other changes include:

• New cooling and air-filtration systems along with more powerful air conditioner
• Additional armored skirts
• Additional diesel APU
• Improved HL-80 commander sights with a laser range finder and thermal imager
• Battlefield management system called FINDERS
• Improved stowage baskets

These modified Leclercs took part in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen in 2015. None of these tanks were allegedly completely destroyed, although several were heavily damaged by mines, RPGs and ATGMs. As tanks go, the Leclercs proved to be very rugged during the fighting and generally outmatched the obsolete Soviet equipment present in this theater of war completely, as expected of this expensive but effective piece of military hardware.



Our skin is based on one of the prototypes for this vehicle, which used the original engine. Otherwise, we’ve added all the changes necessary to make it look like a real “tropicalized” Leclerc.



The vehicle is covered with a two-tone desert camouflage and a camouflage net. This net covers much of its surface.



We’ve added an APU unit to the back of the vehicle.



The rear turret now features new stowage baskets.



The turret optics is also covered with a camouflage net.



Overall, this skin will be highly suitable for desert maps and Realistic battles, as it blends truly nicely into their environment. However, on other map types, it will look just as dashing. It’s worth noting that unlike the real Leclerc Tropicalisé, the skin does not come with any improvements or performance changes. It’s simply a way of making your Leclerc to look really cool.



We hope that you will enjoy it as well as the other items coming with it and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

Aside from the Ridgway skin, we’ve prepared another piece of American history for you in the form of the U.S. Airborne camouflage.



This camouflage had been seen on several U.S. Airborne Sheridans in the early 1980s, before it got replaced by the 1986 universal NATO pattern that would be used during Operation Just Cause. The basic layout remains the same – three irregular stripes, one of which is quite narrow. The colors in this case are two shades of green, black and sand.



The pattern in the game is based on the M551TTS Sheridan of the 73rd Armor Regiment (82nd Airborne), as seen during Operation Ocean Venture. This was a 1984 military exercise that took place in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, aimed at demonstrating the U.S. capability to keep the Caribbean shipping lines open. The Sheridan in question landed at Vieques Island in Puerto Rico.



As the text above suggests, this camouflage will fit your Sheridan nicely, although applying it to the Buford, or even Thunderbolt, will also work. And, as always, the camouflage will be available for all three environments.

The second asset we’ve prepared for you is the brown Field Drab base paint.



Field Drab is one of the basic colors used in multiple American camouflages and you can combine it with various striped patterns available for free in the game to produce interesting results.

We hope that you will enjoy these additions to Armored Warfare and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Update: PayPal is currently experiencing major issues that translate into massive payment delays for Armored Warfare. Not using this payment service for the time being is highly recommended, as your orders may take hours, or even days to process.

Commanders!

This week, we are offering you an opportunity to boost your Battle Path progress and get that main prize you know you want – the Stridsvagn 2000 Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank!



The following Battle Coin bundles are available:

• 1.000 Battle Coins (10% off)
• 5.000 Battle Coins (15% off)
• 10.000 Battle Coins (25% off)
• 25.000 Battle Coins (35% off)
• 50.000 Battle Coins (45% off)

Battle Coins can be used for a number of things, including:

• Force-completing Battle Path missions
• Progressing through Battle Path levels
• Purchasing the CV90120 Ghost blueprints from the Shop

Please note: In order to use Battle Coins, you need to obtain the access to the Northern Wind Battle Path.



We hope that you will enjoy the offer and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

The Kornet-D1 is now also available in Loot Crates!

The Kornet-D1 Tank Destroyer was one of the proposed variants for the BMD-4M chassis. As a dedicated tank hunter, it was supposed to be armed with two Kornet ATGM quad launchers, providing the Russian Airborne forces with long-range tank-killing capabilities. The project was launched in 2013 but the vehicle never reached the prototype stage with the program likely being canceled in 2018. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the Kornet-D1 is a Tier 10 Premium Tank Destroyer and a tracked counterpart to the wheeled Kornet-EM progression vehicle. It is only lightly armed but also very stealthy and its lack of vision range is compensated by the ability to deploy a Sniper. Additionally, when configured properly, the vehicle is capable of launching two missiles at once, making it incredibly deadly against any target, especially at long ranges.

This vehicle is available via Loot Crates, which drop Kornet-D1 parts. Collect 100 Kornet-D1 parts from these Loot Crates to assemble the whole vehicle.



We hope that you will enjoy the offer and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

For this year’s U.S. Independence Day celebration, we’ve prepared a special skin that we’d like to tell you about today. This skin will belong to one of the best Light Tanks in the game, the Tier 9 M8 Thunderbolt II. Now, you might be thinking – this is supposed to be a historical skin, how come you’re making it for a vehicle that had never seen service before its development was unceremoniously canceled in the 1990s?



The answer is more complicated than that. Let’s start with the vehicle first. The XM8 by FMC was designed in the 1980s and the early 1990s to compete in the ill-fated Armored Gun System contest in order to replace the aging Sheridan, which had been in service since the Vietnam War. The whole history behind the program is described in this dedicated article but, long story short, it was canceled in 1996 following the budget cuts after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The prototype would eventually re-surface in 2003 and 2006, this time with a 120mm gun – this was the Thunderbolt demonstrator, intended to piggyback on the War on Terror, since the U.S. Forces lacked a proper mobile firepower platform. But that’s neither here nor there – the important part was that the Thunderbolt was a direct descendant of the Armored Gun System program, which originated in the 1980s.



Let us, for a short while, return to the 1980s then, or rather to the end of that decade. In 1989, the U.S. military launched Operation Just Cause to depose Manuel Noriega, the leader of Panama, who had become very active in drug trafficking in the late 1980s and despite his ties to the CIA, he had outlived his usefulness. In this sense, the U.S. invasion of Panama was a clean-up operation and a police action with the Panamanian militias not being a match for the might of the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Airborne.

Armor-wise, 14 M551 Sheridan tanks were used in the operation with 10 air-dropped from low-flying C-130s at the Torrijos-Tocumen Airport shortly after its capture. Two were destroyed in the process. The other four Sheridans were transported to the area in secret a month prior to the operation.



These four took part in the attack on the Panamanian Defense Force HQ, also known as “the Comandancia”, and saw some of the toughest fighting in the operation. One of these four Sheridans was called “Airborne Thunder” and belonged to Company C of the 3rd Battalion, 73rd Armor Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. The tank survived the operation unscathed and would later participate in Operation Desert Storm before returning to the USA and finally being decommissioned. After its active service ended, it underwent a restoration process to make it look the way it did during Operation Just Cause and can now be seen at the U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Now to bring those two stories together, our skin is based on the following premise: “What if the U.S. Airborne had been equipped with the Armored Gun System vehicles – in this case, the M8 – at the time of the Panama invasion?”

Naturally, this is all a bit anachronistic. The operation took place in 1989 while the first prototype was only unveiled in 1993. Furthermore, the 120mm version would appear a decade later. Perhaps the actual armor developers in the Armored Warfare universe were fast enough to make the vehicle appear four, five years earlier?



The truth is, in this case, we decided mostly based on player feedback. The Thunderbolt is a more popular vehicle than the Buford and we wanted to give you not only an interesting backstory, but also a practical skin that could be used on everyday basis.

As you can see, aside from improving its overall quality, we adjusted the Thunderbolt model with numerous smaller details. The tank now bears the standard 1986 NATO camouflage that was painted by the museum staff over the original sand color, since the actual Airborne Thunder Sheridan participated in Operation Desert Storm.



At places, you can see the original sand color shining through.



The gun proudly bears the name Airborne Thunder, with the tactical markings of the 82nd Airborne Division, 73rd Armor Regiment and 3rd Battalion painted on the lower frontal and rear plates of the vehicle.



The turret of the vehicle is covered with various ammo boxes and items belonging to its crew.



And, last but not least, .50cal anti-aircraft machinegun position is armored with extra anti-bullet plates, much like on the Sheridan.

With all that being said, only one thing remains to be explained – the name.

The tank is, of course, named after General Matthew Ridgway, the commander of, amongst many other things, the 82nd Airborne Division during the Second World War. But that’s not all there’s to it.



General Ridgway passed away in 1993, leading to some speculations that the next Light Tank for the Airborne would be name after him. This wasn’t the case and, to our knowledge, was never the plan, but, as it turns out, the source of these rumors was the notorious combatreform.org website, best known for Mike Sparks, a tireless crusader against the Stryker platform and a proponent of the M113 Gavin.



Despite the Gavin being an old running joke in western tank enthusiast circles, we find the whole meme endearing and the M8 Ridgway is as much a nod to combatreform.org, as it is to the bravery of General Ridgway.

We hope that you will enjoy the skin as well as the other items coming with it and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!