Game Mechanics

• A bug that caused the lower limit on the number of mission points awarded for capturing a zone to not apply in all game modes has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused additional mission points for each player involved in captures to not be added to the pool of points which are split between all players in the zone in all game modes has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused mission point multipliers for damage and destruction of bases to cease varying from 0.6 to 2.5 depending on vehicle Rank and game mode and become 1 everywhere has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused mission points in Air Simulator Battles to start being awarded again for destroying players who had just spawned in on the airfield and had not earned any points yet has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused the spectator camera in Ground Realistic Battles to not automatically switch from the destroyed vehicle to a next vehicle of the player has been fixed.
  

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.

May 8th is an important anniversary — 80 years ago on this day, the Second World War in Europe ended after 6 years of brutal conflict. Many countries in Europe have this day as a main holiday, and in War Thunder we’re celebrating this anniversary with a decal, decorations, profile background, sales and an event!

When: From May 7th (13:00 GMT) until May 12th (13:00 GMT) play War Thunder and get rewards!

“We won!” decal
“DS-39” ground vehicle decoration
“Victory Day” profile background


Task: Play 3 battles while using vehicles at rank III or higher with a battle activity of at least 70%
Task: Get a total of 20,000 mission points while using vehicles at rank III or higher in Ground Battles
Task: Win 5 battles while using vehicles at rank III or higher with a battle activity of at least 70%

You can track the progress you’ve made for each task by going to your Nickname > Achievements > Victory Day

Trophy with past Victory Day rewards
We’ve prepared trophies with rewards from previous Victory Day events that can be found in the in-game Item Shop. Purchasing a trophy will give you Allied weapon decorations or decals that you don’t have yet.

• Decals, dedicated to war memorials: “Rear-Front”, “Motherland”, “Warrior Liberator” and “Victorious countries”
  
• Decorations for ground vehicles: “Bren Mk II”, “ROKS-3”, “M1 Garand”, “SG-43”, “Maxim-Tokarev Machine Gun”, “Tommy gun”
  
• Decorations for Bluewater fleet naval vessels: “Matilda II” and “120-PM-38”
  

Discounts in the Gaijin.net store

When: From May 7th (11:00 GMT) until May 14th (11:00)

There are discounts on many packs and bundles with vehicles that participated in the Second World War. Celebrate this holiday with the vehicles that helped win the war!

Click here for the full details

Legend of Victory: T-34-85 “Partisan”

When: From May 8th (11:00 GMT) until May 20th (11:00 GMT)

Take part in the Legend of Victory event, featuring a special T-34-85 that has identification marks and a red banner flag on the turret roof. Plus themed decals and decorations are ups for grabs too!

Click here for the full details

Let’s celebrate the 80th anniversary together!

When: From May 7th (11:00 GMT) until May 14th (11:00), bundles and standalone packs with a discount!

To celebrate Victory in Europe Day, we’re temporarily returning rare bundles with themed vehicles to the store! You can also find huge discounts for individual packs.

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

“Wings of Victory” bundle -30%

149 104

• Dolgushin's La-7 Pack;
  
• Golovachev's Yak-9M Pack;
  
• Prendergast`s Spitfire FR Mk.XIVe Pack;
  
• Plagis' Spitfire Mk. IXc Pack;
  
• Bostwick's P-47M-1-RE Thunderbolt Pack;
  
• Wetmore`s P-51D-10 Pack.
  

“Tracks of Victory” bundle -30%

160 112

• A43 Black Prince Pack;
  
• M10 Achilles Pack;
  
• IS-2 Revenge for the Hero brother Pack;
  
• T-34-85E, 1945 Pack;
  
• M18 Black Cat Pack;
  
• М5А1 5th Canadian Armoured Division Pack.
  

“Weapons of Victory” bundle -50%

309 154

• Dolgushin's La-7 Pack,
  
• Golovachev's Yak-9M Pack;
  
• Prendergast`s Spitfire FR Mk.XIVe Pack;
  
• Plagis' Spitfire Mk. IXc Pack;
  
• Bostwick's P-47M-1-RE Thunderbolt Pack;
  
• Wetmore`s P-51D-10 Pack;
  
• A43 Black Prince Pack;
  
• M10 Achilles Pack;
  
• IS-2 Revenge for the Hero brother Pack;
  
• T-34-85E, 1945 Pack;
  
• M18 Black Cat Pack;
  
• М5А1 5th Canadian Armored Division Pack.
  

The final price of the bundle will depend on whether you already have some of the packs or not. Be sure to login to the store to see your individual price!

These special packs can also be purchased separately in the store.

50% discounts on selected vehicle packs!

• US Starter Pack
  
• German Beginner's Pack
  
• USSR Starter Pack
  
• Italian Starter Pack
  
• Japanese Starter Pack
  
• British Starter Pack
  
• French Starter Pack
  
• Swedish Starter Pack
  
• Chinese Starter Pack
  
• King Tiger Pack
  
• T29 Pack
  
• Object 120 Pack
  
• K9 VIDAR Pack
  
• AH-64D (Netherlands) Pack
  
• Kfir Canard Pack
  
• Mi-35M Pack
  
• Saab J35XS Pack
  
• F-4J(UK) Phantom II Pack
  
• Challenger 2 (OES) Pack
  
• Type 90B "Fuji" Pack
  
• F-4EJ Phantom II ADTW Pack
  
• MiG-23ML Pack
  
• M1A1 HC "Click-Bait" Pack
  
• Su-25K Pack
  
• MiG-21bis "Lazur-M" Pack
  
• Tornado IDS WTD 61 Pack
  
• F-20A Tigershark Pack
  
• T-72AV (TURMS-T) Pack
  
• T-55AM-1 Pack
  
• F-5C Pack
  
• Su-22M4 WTD 61 Pack
  
• AH-64A Apache Pack
  
• Centauro RGO Pack
  
• Leopard 2A4 Pack
  
• Al-Khalid-I Pack
  
• CV 90105 XC-8 Pack
  
• IS-6 Pack
  

Note! The following packs will be retired from all platforms after the promotion ends:

• AH-64D (Netherlands) Pack
  
• Kfir Canard Pack
  
• Mi-35M Pack
  
• Saab J35XS Pack
  
• F-4J(UK) Phantom II Pack
  
• Challenger 2 (OES) Pack
  

Hello again! We’re back with a new selection of historical decals and markings for you all to unlock and customize your vehicles with. We hope you liked the selection for April and hope you enjoy the picks for May as well!

Thank you to those of you who have posted your decal suggestions, we’ll be adding a few of them over the next few months, so keep them coming! Also, feel free to let us know what previous decals you’d like to see return for future months — “Scottie” for example was included this month as it was requested. We cycle these decals equally, so for example as America got a new ground decal last month, they have an old air decal this month and so on, so we’ll try and work in suggestions based on the plan.

The following decals will be available from May 7th (11:00 GMT) until June 6th (09:00 GMT).

All tasks can be completed using vehicles that are rank III or higher.

366th Armored Division Emblem , Israel
“Dragaggio” Emblem, Italy
“Victor of Berlin” Inscription, USSR


Defeat 60 players using Israeli Ground Vehicles
Capture 10 zones with Italian Coastal or Bluewater Vessels
Play 20 battles while using USSR Ground Vehicles with a minimum of 60% Battle Activity






3rd FG Emblem, CACW, China
“L’Invulnérable” Inscription, France
81. jaktflygdivisionen “Helge Röd” Emblem, Sweden, Sweden
Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 907 Emblem, Germany


Finish in position 1-3 three times while using Chinese Aircraft
Achieve the “Survivor” Award 1 time while using French Ground Vehicles
Earn 15000 score while flying Swedish Aircraft
Defeat 50 players using German Tank Destroyers






“Wolf” Emblem, 867th Bombardment Squadron, USA
10th Tank Division Emblem, Japan
Personal motif of Francis “Scottie” Malden, No. 603 Squadron, Great Britain


Destroy 30 ground or water targets while using American Aircraft
Play 20 battles while using Japanese Ground Vehicles with a minimum of 60% Battle Activity

Defeat 60 players using British Aircraft










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

You can check the exact terms and 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.

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.

We hope you like May’s selection! Thank you for all of your feedback and suggestions, we’ll see you in June!

Welcome to the 170th War Thunder Steam Screenshot Competition!

Thanks for submitting all of your screenshots last week! This week, your screenshots can capture any action from the battlefield, such as an aircraft avoiding missiles, or battleships duelling on the high seas! The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

Let’s begin the 170th edition of our competition!

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen170. You have time until the 9th of May 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.

How to Participate!

Terms:

• Capture an exciting moment in battle!
  
• You must add the #WTscreen170 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.
  

And now, time for the winners of the competition’s 169th edition – Tropical Jungle!

Winners selected via community votes:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471518666
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471775951
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3470842730

Winners selected by our judges:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471721624
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471251154
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3470838511

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

The War Thunder Championships Series has begun! The last two Qualifying weekends have been intense, with amazing action and great tactical plays. With almost 800 players registered, 8 teams have emerged from the crowd to secure their ticket for the play-off phases. They will now face each other in a double elimination bracket and BO5 matches. Their objective you ask? To finish in the best position to earn maximum points and get a head start on the season!



Everything is all to play for, two majors remain to secure a place in the Grand Final in November 2025!


Team RAWR

We don't need to introduce them to you any more. Team RAWR is an international English-speaking team whose aim is to dominate the competition and win their first title.

Team AVReS

A team mainly made up of Russian players, in 2024 they proved their superiority. They finished second during the Thunder Cup, but this year they're aiming to finish first!

Team Forfeet

Armed with their “Baguette”, this new French-speaking team is making a smashing entry into the competition, and we wish them great succes!

Team DODEC

Composed of Polish and Ukrainian players This team is made up of some of the best players in the world! After a “complex” Thunder Cup, they're coming back even stronger!

Team Wastedtime

After numerous successes during the Air Superiority tournaments, this team made up of passionate players, continues to make its mark on the history of War Thunder Esports.

Team LEET

One of the oldest teams on the Esports scene, and still going strong, showing us some great games! This team is known for its innovative strategy, which often leads to victory.

Team AVRVG

The B team of the AVReS but not in the results! This team follows in their godfather's footsteps, and well intends to show that they are the strongest.

Team IgnisAvis

Following the announcement of the WTCS a new international team has been created! With former members of the BIH and MRCLS, this team has huge potential!


Live streams with Twitch Drops!
During each weekend, you'll have the opportunity to acquire amazing camouflages while watching the matches live.
FOLLOW

When: May 3rd-4th and May 10th-11th from 14:40 GMT

Watch WTCS TITAN only on the official English, German, French, Polish and Russian War Thunder Esport channels and receive:







2S19M1 “Rapid Response” camouflage
F-18C late “BlueBird” camouflage



1st weekend May 3rd-4th

• 50% RP Booster for 10 battles
  
• 50% SL Booster for 10 battles
  
• 1 Day of premium
  
• Infantry Backpack
  
• “TITAN” decal
  
  
• 2S19M1 “Rapid Response” camouflage
  

2nd weekend May 10th-11th

• 50% RP Booster for 10 battles
  
• 50% SL Booster for 10 battles
  
• 1 Day of premium
  
• “Titanomachy” title
  
• “Fresh paint” profile icon frame
  
  
• F-18C late “BlueBird” camouflage
  

Info: Login to your Twitch account → link your Gaijin account → click “Allow” to be able to receive Twitch Drops!

31 New Skins Now Available in the ‘WTCS Trophy I’!
The new WTCS Trophy is now complete, with camouflages created by authors on WT.Live! This new wave of additions includes 31 camouflages for different vehicles: 17 aircraft, 12 ground, 1 helicopter and 1 ship. We’re continuing to showcase vehicles with unique creations by our artists.















Ground Vehicles

• M1A1 Click-Bait - "Graffiti Bomb II"
  
• Challenger 2E - "Baskerville"
  
• Ariete AMV - "Blood Dragon"
  
• VT4A1 - "Spirit Guardian"
  
• M1A1 AIM - "Spartan"
  
• Type 90 (B) "Fuji" - "Technomancer"
  
• Leopard 2A7V - "Nemesis"
  
• Leopard 2A6NL - "King of Street"
  
• T-90M - "Delta-3"
  
• Strv 122B+ - "Valhalla's Garden"
  
• Leopard 2A7HU - "Disco Machine"
  
• VT5 - "WTCS Camouflage"
  

Aircraft

• F-15E - "Ruperts Eagle"
  
• J-11A - "Leifeng Pagoda"
  
• F-2000A - "Onmivaga"
  
• Typhoon FGR.4 - "Thunder Tiger"
  
• Baz Meshupar - "Azur Eagle"
  
• F-16C Barak II - "Fenix"
  
• F-15J(M) - "Haru No Kisetsu"
  
• Rafale C F3 - "Shockwave"
  
• Su-33 - "Xenon"
  
• Su-27SM - "Argon"
  
• Su-34 - "Krypton"
  
• JAS39C - "XVII The Star"
  
• F-4F KWS LV - "Old World Magic"
  
• JA37DI F21 - "Boreal Steel"
  
• J-10A - "Pearl From The East"
  
• EF-2000 - "Union Fighter"
  
• Su-30SM - "WTCS Camouflage"
  
• Ka-52 - "Neonbit"
  

Naval Vessels

• JN Fuso - "It Comes From The Deep"
  

Like the previous Esports trophy, the new trophy can be obtained by simply playing regular War Thunder battles. In the future, it’ll also be possible to obtain with an increased chance by participating in Esports events in War Thunder tournaments! PlayStation and Xbox players can purchase the trophy in the Item Shop for Golden Eagles.

To open it, you’ll need to purchase a key on the Market (income is shared with the authors of the camouflages). You can either activate the coupon on your account, or trade it on the Market to get Gaijin Coins (GJN). A trophy can be sold as well!







WTCS Trophy I box
WTCS Trophy I box



To unlock the trophy, you'll need an “Esport” key that can be purchased on the Market for GJN.

• Read more about the Market and Gaijin Coins on our Wiki
  

Don’t miss the Thunder Tactiks Pack

• Unique decal: "Thunder Tactiks"
  
  
• Unique camouflage: Bf 109 F-4 "Thunder Tactics"
  
  
• Unique camouflage: Sd.Kfz.234/2 "Thunder Tactics"
  
  
• 300 Golden Eagles
  

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

Last week, we introduced a short test for a new mode called “Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses” (SEAD). We saw your enthusiasm, and today we’re happy to be bringing it back for the weekend with some changes and additions mainly based on feedback!

When: From May 2nd (14:00 GMT) until May 5th (04:00 GMT)

You can access the event from the hangar through: Events & Tournaments -> Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses

If you missed the first test and would like to catch up on everything regarding this mode, then be sure to check out the original news post below.

Information regarding SEAD:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/547858640693887496




Changes from the first test
The way it plays will be the same as the first test, with the exception of the following new changes / additions:

• Players are distributed a bit more randomly at the front when spawning in at a random spawn point
  
• Enemy planes near allied spawn points are highlighted on the map (like in Ground Realistic Battles)
  
• Afghanistan has been removed, and the following maps have been added: Sinai, Spain, Rocky Canyon, and Southeastern City
  
• There are now 12 players on the defending team instead of 16 (this was changed near the end of the first test, where the win percentage for the Attackers then raised to a far more reasonable level)
  
• The reward in Silver Lions and research points for destroying the SNR-75 tracking radar has been doubled
  
• Mission score for destroying the SNR-75 tracking radar has been tripled to 270
  
• Mission score for destroying launchers, Shilkas and detecting radars (P-12) has been unified for the Cobra and Phantom and increased to 135
  

Today we’re back with some updates on what you can expect from the game in the near future. We’ve got some sneak peeks and interesting information to share with you today, so sit back, grab your favorite drink and read on! We’ve also changed the title of this series to better reflect the content.

Disclaimer: While we’re excited to be able to share work-in-progress information before dev blogs, the dev server and the full release, please bear in mind that new features, vehicles and maps mentioned in this news are subject to change, be delayed or be canceled. War Thunder is constantly being developed, and as with all game development, unexpected delays or other unforeseen circumstances may occur. Thank you for your interest!

Reflecting on the SEAD event test


Recently, we tested the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) event for two days and have seen your enthusiasm for something like this. We would like to thank everyone who tested it and left their comments!

We’ve taken note of your comments about this test starting during the week instead of the weekend. Since this was something new, we wanted to be on standby so that we could keep an eye on any major issues and fix or change an aspect of the test in real time. This helped as we did reduce the defender team size from 16 to 12 after reading your comments and checking the statistics. Shortly after making this change, the win percentage for the Attackers raised to a far more reasonable level.

Another concern raised by some players was the strength of the Shilka and S-75s firing at the Attackers. Their strength is intentional as we want it to be a challenge and for players to use tactics, teamwork and utilize different weaponry types to take them out. Overall they’re difficult, but not impossible to engage — we’ll of course keep an eye on any issues but they will retain their strength as of now.

On the contrary, some players raised the concern that the rewards for destroying SAM sites was too low and not that incentivising. Therefore we’ve increased rewards and mission score for certain actions, check out the bullet points below on exactly what was changed.



Due to the popularity of the SEAD event, we’ve decided to return it this weekend from May 2nd (14:00 GMT) until May 5th (04:00 GMT), so that everyone who is at home from education and work can give it a try if they missed it the first time round. We feel confident to run this on the weekend now since we’ve had time to make changes based on the first test.

The way it plays will be the same as the first test, with the exception of the following new changes / additions:

• Players will be distributed a bit more randomly at the front when spawning in at a random spawn point
  
• Enemy planes near allied spawn points will be highlighted on the map (like in Ground Realistic Battles)
  
• Afghanistan has been removed, and some the following maps are likely to be added: Sinai, Spain, Rocky Canyon, and Southeastern City
  
• There are now 12 players on the defending team instead of 16 (this was changed near the end of the first test)
  
• The reward in Silver Lions and research points for destroying the SNR-75 tracking radar has been doubled
  
• Mission score for destroying the SNR-75 tracking radar has been tripled to 270
  
• Mission score for destroying launchers, Shilkas and detecting radars (P-12) has been unified for the Cobra and Phantom and increased to 135
  

Next Event Vehicles
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Victory Day! For this we’ll have our traditional celebrations and an event with a Soviet tank as the main reward, which has already been announced. Afterwards, those interested in aircraft will be able to appreciate one of Kurt Tank’s designs in the aircraft event. And in early June, we’ll be having an event dedicated to D-Day with an American tank as the main reward. When this event finishes, there will then be about a 1 month gap without an event — after that, naval fans will be able to enjoy a naval vehicle in a naval event.



Keep an eye on the news for all information surrounding everything mentioned here!

World War Mode
Back in December last year, we said we hoped to share some info about WWM early in 2025 and referenced WWM during the SEAD test. At the moment, we’re testing SEAD for Aerial Warfare, which is dedicated to aircraft. After SEAD, we’ll do another test for a mission that will be in Aerial Warfare in the same format as the SEAD event, so keep an eye out for that. WWM is still in development and we hope to share more details about it in the coming months. Thank you for your patience with it!



The Upcoming Major Update
Vehicles


In December’s Q&A, we mentioned that some powerful ships will be released in 2025. And that’s definitely true, as the next major update will be bringing in some superior, iconic, big, vast and yottabyte ships.

There will of course be aircraft too, including a rather cool helicopter for the USA and a jet for Japan. In December’s Q&A, we also spoke about more advanced SAM system vehicles at top tier for ground forces coming in 2025. The next major update will see several of these new systems come to the game for several nations at once.

The dev blog season will be beginning in the coming weeks, so be sure to check out everything we’ve got lined up there.




Talking about a top-tier French premium tank
We’ve seen many questions and requests for a top rank premium tank for the French tree, and today we’re ready to provide some information and our thoughts regarding this.

We previously mentioned the challenges of finding a suitable candidate that fits a populated Battle Rating with other vehicles possible in its lineup. This is an important consideration when we look into including a premium vehicle in the game — we look into other vehicles that could fit into a lineup with it.

We have plans to add a prototype variant of the Leclerc in the next major update, however not as a premium. The reason for this is that its armor protection is still under question, and we’re wary of adding a premium vehicle with armor that could very much be subject to heavy changes if new information came to light. The specific variant of the prototype is still being worked on and is planned for the main research tree, where potential drastic changes to armor and Battle Ratings are more tolerable than if it was a premium vehicle.

To reiterate, we don’t want to add premium vehicles at the highest possible Battle Rating, so a premium at 12.0 for ground forces is not possible at the moment. With this in mind, we looked into another consideration as well. This included some form of a production Leclerc as a premium, but without a top round so that it could be placed at a lower Battle Rating. However this vehicle would have no lineup of its own and would only be valid in toptier 12.0 lineups, where it would be at a disadvantage with a weaker round.

So what solution have we come to? We plan to introduce a Leopard 2A4 NL from the Netherlands as a premium for the French ground forces tree. It will come with some cool and distinct visuals. This is a reliable and proven MBT that will serve the premium role well, while allowing us to retain the Leclerc MSC prototype for the research tree and offer further support for lesser populated Battle Rating ranges. Both of these tanks are planned to come together in the next major update.

Map Visual Upgrades
We’re continuing the trend of visual updates for older ground forces maps in the next major update. Berlin and Kuban are up next and we can’t wait to show you how they look soon.



Falklands Island map for air battles
We’re happy to announce that a new location for air battles, the Falklands Islands, will be coming in the next major update. We know many of you have been speaking about the idea of a map set on this island for some time now. From Port Stanley to Port San Carlos and to Goose Green, keep an eye out for more information about this new location, coming soon.

Tooltip Improvements
In the last couple major updates, we’ve been working on several areas of the interface, and in the next major update we’re continuing this trend. First up, the tooltip when hovering over any player’s name in the scoreboard will now show their fancy player background, instead of just their name written as plain text.
Next, vehicle stat cards will now show in full when hovering over a vehicle name in the scoreboard while in battle. You can also add a vehicle to your wish list from the context menu here too. And lastly, all tooltips have been improved in the battle debriefing menu as well.

VFX Updates
War Thunder’s VFX are constantly evolving and in the next major update we’ll have some improvements to this aspect of the game. One in particular that we’d like to mention is the afterburner effect of aircraft, where we’ve looked to refine the inside of the nozzle by adding a flame effect, giving them a more realistic and in-depth look. This improvement will come for all aircraft that have afterburners.



Fuel Dumping
In the next major update, we’ll be adding the ability to dump fuel for aircraft! Let’s go over a run down of how this will work. After dumping the fuel, the weight of the aircraft will reduce, so you can dump fuel just before going into combat, for example.

When the engines are running in afterburner mode, the fuel can catch fire. Other sources can also cause a fire, for example flying missiles or nearby explosions. Even another aircraft flying in afterburner can cause fuel to catch fire.

Burning fuel emits intense heat, which allows infrared-guided missiles without anti-jamming systems to target it. You can use this ability to swap your fuel for an improvised heat trap to divert a missile from the aircraft. However, this functionality can become bait for missiles, depending on the flight angle.

This new functionality will be available on those aircraft that had it in real life.



Rounding off

There is of course more things in the works coming in the major update, we haven’t mentioned everything in this news. We’d like to thank everyone for their continued comments and interest in War Thunder. See you next time!

From your CM and Dev Team

80 years have passed since May 1945, when the Second World War in Europe ended. It’s time to celebrate Victory Day! In this event, you’ll be able to get a decorated Soviet T-34-85 that was used in ‘45, decals dedicated to the capture of Berlin, and a profile icon of Grigory Brazhnikov.

From May 8th (11:00 GMT) until May 20th (11:00 GMT), earn mission points in Ground Battles, unlock stages and receive rewards!

T-34-85 “Partisan” — A Premium Medium Tank for the USSR at Rank III
The T-34-85 was a symbol of victory for the USSR over Nazi Germany. This medium tank is generally an all-rounder, featuring good mobility, decent protection and good firepower. In honor of Victory Day, a decorated version of the T-34-85 tank with a classic 85 mm ZIS-S-53 gun, decorated with a red banner and special identification marks is available in this event. The T-34-85 “Partisan” has a new, highly detailed model, and in the next War Thunder major update we plan to update the other older T-34-85 models as well.

We’d like to note that in the future the T-34-85 in the research tree will be moved to Rank III, and a new T-34-85 with the STP-S-53 “Taran” stabilizer will be added to Rank IV in the tree. The premium T-34-85E will stay at Rank IV. Stay tuned!





In 1945, Lieutenant Grigory Brazhnikov took part in street battles in Berlin in a T-34-85. The tank company under his command cleared 32 city blocks, with Brazhnikov himself claiming to have destroyed an enemy medium tank and a Ferdinand. In total, Brazhnikov achieved 16 victories during the war.




“Victory is ours” decal
“Victory over Berlin” decal
“Grigory Brazhnikov” profile icon



Among the rewards in the event is also this chest. When opened, there is a chance to receive one of the following items:

• 50,000 - 100,000 Silver Lions
  
• Silver Lion and Research Point boosters
  
• Random Wagers and Orders
  
• Universal Backups (1 - 3)
  
• A random camouflage for a vehicle you own
  
• 1 day of Premium Account
  

How to get all rewards
Each stage is unlocked for 35,000 mission points and brings a new reward.

Please note: After finishing a stage, you need to collect the reward manually. To do this, click on your name in-game, go to “Legend of Victory: T-34-85” and click the “Get Reward” button.

You’re able to earn mission points in Ground Battles at Rank III or above in Arcade, Realistic and Simulator Battles. The number of mission points to complete a stage depends on the game mode and the maximum Rank of the vehicle that you use in battle. There’s a multiplier for earning mission points, which is shown in the task description in-game.

You can also earn mission points by using event vehicles that are Rank I and II. Event vehicles that can be used have the name of the event that they were obtainable in on their stat card.

Stages change every two days at 11:00 GMT on May 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th.

Rewards are given when you complete a specific number of stages

• For 1 Stage: trophy with a random reward
  
• For 2 Stages: one of the decal rewards
  
• For 3 Stages: trophy with a random reward
  
• For 4 Stages: one of the decal rewards
  
• For 5 Stages: “Grigory Brazhnikov” profile icon
  
• For 6 Stages: non-tradable coupon for the T-34-85 “Partisan”
  

Discounts on purchasing stages using Golden Eagles
Unfinished stages can be purchased for Golden Eagles, but if you’re significantly close to completing a stage, its price will now be significantly reduced.

Let’s say you have earned 85% of the required mission points to complete a stage, then the price of purchasing this stage will be halved. If you’re near the finish line for a stage and are at 95% progress, then the price will be reduced by five times. For example, if you’ve scored 30,000 mission points, then the price for unlocking this stage will be 349 Golden Eagles. If you’ve scored 33,500 mission points, then you’ll only need to pay 139 Golden Eagles. Remember to keep this in mind if you cannot complete a stage on time!

The Upgrade for coupon
When you complete 6 stages, you’ll receive a non-tradable coupon for the T-34-85 “Partisan”, where using it will immediately activate the vehicle onto your account. If you don’t want the vehicle and would like to sell the coupon on the Market, you’ll need the “Upgrade for coupon” item.

The “Upgrade for coupon” item can be earned in parallel with the stages throughout the event from May 8th (11:00 GMT) until May 20th (11:00 GMT) for 500,000 mission points.

After receiving the “Upgrade for coupon” item, you can convert a non-tradable coupon for the vehicle into a tradable one and sell it on the Market. The tradable coupon can be sold after 6 days from the moment it’s created.

The “Upgrade for coupon” item is valid until May 23rd (11:00 GMT). Until this time, you can use it or exchange it for War Bonds. Afterwards, it’ll disappear from your inventory.

To make a tradable coupon, select the “Coupon T-34-85 “Partistan” (USSR)” in your inventory and click the “Modify” button.

You can track the progress of completing stages and receiving the “Upgrade for coupon” by clicking on your Nickname > Achievements > Legend of Victory. If you don’t manage to complete a stage on time or would like to purchase a stage, until May 23rd from the Achievements window, you can purchase each stage with Golden Eagles which will give you the corresponding rewards.

Aircraft

• R2Y2 Kai (all variants) — these aircraft have been removed from research today as announced and planned. Players who owned them or who put at least 1 RP into them keep them in their research tree. For more information, please visit the news post from February here.
  
• A bug that caused the AN/ALR-46(V)3 and AN/APR(V)1 RWRs to not recognize the S-75 SAM radar has been fixed.
  
• F-15E — a bug that caused the AGM-65D camera to lack the IR channel has been fixed.
  

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.

It’s time for some sweet deals! Buy vehicles and their modifications, backups, talismans and Premium Account time during the next week with a big discount. In a week, be sure to visit the Gaijin.net store to check out pack discounts as well!

When: From April 30th (11:00 GMT) until May 7th (11:00 GMT)

Discounts on vehicles

• 30% discount on vehicles from all nations when purchasing with Golden Eagles and Silver lions. The discount is valid on all vehicles throughout the entire sale period.
  
• Discounts don’t apply to the purchase and upgrade of Squadron vehicles and vehicles that were released in the Storm Warning and Hornet's Sting major updates.
  

Discounts on upgrades

• 30% discount on modifications
  
• 30% discount on talismans
  
• 30% discount on backups
  

Discounts on Premium Accounts

• 50% discount on Premium accounts for 90 and 365 days for Golden Eagles in the hangar.
  
• 50% discount on Premium accounts for 180 days in the Gaijin Store.
  

Discounts in the Gaijin store
When: From May 7th until May 14th

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

Packs with rare vehicles at good prices await you. We’ll tell you about the contents of these packs, as well as the size of the discounts soon. Keep an eye on the news!

In this month’s Pages of History, you will find yourself in the midst of key historical events across different theaters of war. Indonesia and Madagascar, Italy and Berlin — take part in battles using vehicles corresponding to these historic conflicts and earn rewards! 

From May 1st until May 31st, you’ll have access to 8 tasks consecutively. Completing each task will grant you a trophy with a reward, completing all of the tasks will earn you a unique player icon!

Stepan Andreevich Neustroyev
Stepan Andreevich Neustroyev was a Soviet officer who commanded the 1st Rifle Battalion of the 756th Rifle Regiment in the 150th Rifle Division from 1943 in the Baltic, Vistula-Oder, East Pomeranian and Berlin. In Berlin, his regiment stormed the main entrance to the Reichstag — both Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria, who raised the Soviet banner over the building, served under Neustroyev. Neustroyev was supposed to carry the Victory Banner at the parade on Red Square on June 24th, 1945, but was unable to do so due to a leg wound. Later, the Victory Banner was donated to a museum.

You can immediately purchase this profile icon for Golden Eagles until June 3rd (11:30 GMT) without completing tasks. To find it, go to your Nickname → Achievements → Pages of History.

Trophy reward for each task

Completing each individual task will give you a trophy with one of the following rewards:

• 20-50% RP booster for 3-10 battles;
  
• 20-50% SL booster for 3-10 battles;
  
• 3-5 universal backups;
  
• Premium account for 1 day;
  
• A random camouflage for ground vehicles (out of the selection of camouflages currently obtainable in game for completing tasks, or purchasing with Golden Eagles).
  

Other terms

• Tasks are available from 11:00 GMT until 11:30 GMT on the final day of each task.
  
• Tasks can be completed in random battles except for “Assault” mode.
  

May 1st — May 4th
Operation Oboe One: Battle of Tarakan
The first part of the Borneo Operation in 1945 was the battle for the Indonesian island of Tarakan between Japan — which captured the island in January 1942 — and the Allies, the United States and Australia. The main strategic target was the airfield, which was so damaged during the fighting that by the time it was restored, the war was practically over.

May 4th — May 7th
Battle of Madagascar
To prevent the possible establishment of Japanese submarine bases in Madagascar which was governed by Vichy France, the Allies landed on the island on May 5th, 1942, and completely subjugated it within six months. Control over Madagascar was transferred to Free France.

May 7th — May 10th
Victory in Europe Day
It has been 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe! Germany surrendered and the War in Europe came to an end after six long years. The victors have a ceremonial parade and celebrations.

May 10th — May 13th
Operation Diadem
On May 11th, 1944, the fourth battle for the heights of Monte Cassino began, where the Axis stopped the Allies from advancing to Rome for four months. The British, Indians, South Africans, Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Canadians, French, and Poles took part in this attack on the Allied side and suffered heavy losses. In total, 55,000 Allied soldiers and 20,000 Axis soldiers died at Monte Cassino, which is why this victory is considered Pyrrhic.

May 13th — May 17th
The end of the Tunisian Campaign
On May 6th, 1943, the Allies captured Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. The Axis forces in North Africa had no room to retreat and had all surrendered by May 13th. Victory in Africa opened the way for the Allies to turn their attention to Italy.

May 18th — May 22nd
Battle of Crete
Having conquered mainland Greece, Germany turned its attention to Crete, where the last remnants of the Greek Army and a British Commonwealth garrison were hiding. On May 20th, 1941, Germany launched Operation Mercury, with paratroopers capturing an airfield and quickly sending in the main body of mountain infantry. By June 1st, the island’s defenders had been routed.

May 23rd — May 26th
Senger Line
The Gustav Line in central Italy was followed by a German defensive line named after Adolf Hitler. However, after the defeat at Monte Cassino, Hitler himself ordered it to be renamed in order to avoid the cost of his reputation if it fell. The line was named after General Senger and only lasted a week, as on May 24th, the Allies broke through it and cleared the way to Rome.

May 27th — May 31st
The F-4 Phantom’s First Flight
On May 27th, 1958, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II made its maiden flight. In the first few years following, it set many records for speed, flight altitude and rate of climb. It became the first aircraft capable of maintaining stable flight at an altitude of over 20 km. It debuted a pulse-Doppler radar and titanium was used in the aircraft’s production for the first time.

Four holidays in Japan are celebrated within the same week. Showa Day, Constitution Day, Greenery Day and Children’s Day are celebrated from April 29th to May 5th. This is a long vacation and a reason to relax and have fun. We’re joining the celebrations with a new decal in War Thunder!

Get the “Tokyo Tower” decal!
Play some Japanese vehicles to get yourself this new decal!


“Tokyo Tower” decal

When: From April 29th (10:00 GMT) until May 2nd (10:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles using Japanese vehicles at rank III or higher to receive the “Tokyo Tower” decal!

Additional details:

• Your activity must not be below 70%.
  
• You can complete the task in random battles, except for Enduring Confrontation missions, and mode.
  
• Track your progress in the hangar by clicking Nickname → Achievements → Holidays → Golden Week.
  
• You can find the decal in the “Holidays” tab in the customization menu.
  

Battle Ratings

• The planned Battle Rating changes have come into effect.
  

Aircraft

• UH-1D (Germany), UH-1B, UH-1C, Mi-8TB (Germany), Mi-8TV, Mi-24A, SA.342L Gazelle, Mi-24D (Italy) — modification to unlock ATGMs has been moved to Tier I in the modification research.
  
• UH-1B (Japan) — the number of rocket pods with 19 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets has been increased from 2 to 4.
  
• XP-50 — air spawn ability has been removed.
  

Ground Vehicles

• Vextra 105 — OFL 105 G2 shell and the modification to unlock it has been added.
  
• E.B.R. (1954) — PCOT-51P shell has been added.
  

Naval Vessels

• A bug that caused the “Camera Shake” option to not affect camera shake intensity on ships has been fixed. (Report).
  
• A bug that caused turrets to sometimes still not adjust fire to the crosshair in Naval Arcade Battles and instead fire at the wrong location 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.

Kick-start your research with War Thunder’s Starter Packs, now at a 50% discount during Steam Wargames Fest 2025!

US Starter Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1108450/War_Thunder__US_Starter_Pack/

German Beginner’s Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2054413/War_Thunder__German_Beginners_Pack/

USSR Starter Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1233370/War_Thunder__USSR_Starter_Pack/

British Starter Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1368801/War_Thunder__British_Starter_Pack/

Japanese Starter Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1368800/War_Thunder__Japanese_Starter_Pack/

Chinese Starter Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1937490/War_Thunder__Chinese_Starter_Pack/

Italian Starter Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1368110/War_Thunder__Italian_Starter_Pack/

French Starter Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1423760/War_Thunder__French_Starter_Pack/

Swedish Starter Pack
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1582830/War_Thunder__Swedish_Starter_Pack/

Don't forget to claim free Steam Point Shop items for your Steam profile here!

Welcome to the 169th War Thunder Steam Screenshot Competition!

We really enjoyed seeing all of your awesome screenshots last week! This week, snap a screenshot from the jungles! The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

Let’s begin the 169th edition of our competition!

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen169. You have time until the 2nd of May 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.

How to Participate!

Terms:

• Your screenshot must include a player vehicle in a jungle environment.
  
• You must add the #WTscreen169 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.
  

And now, time for the winners of the competition’s 168th edition – Seascape!

Winners selected via community votes:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3466732472
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3466960734
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3466916870

Winners selected by our judges:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3466818017
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3467249700
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3467289170

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

Aircraft

• MiG-23 (all variants) — a bug that caused the radar to constantly cycle modes when faced horizontally whilst in horizontal flight with gyro stabilization switched off has been fixed. (Rеport).
  

Locations and Missions

• Mozdok, Flanders — a bug that caused some of the buildings to not have any collision has been fixed. The missions on these locations are available again in random battles. (Report).
  

Interface

• A bug that caused the Secondary Weapons menu to not scroll when controlling the cursor using the d-pad on the gamepad has been fixed.
  

Other

• A bug that sometimes caused the game to freeze when switching to a vehicle with a Marketplace camouflage 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.

The Italian Partisan Liberation Committee declared the beginning of an uprising against German troops occupying northern Italy and the remnants of Mussolini’s fascist regime on April 25th, 1945. Four days later the Germans agreed to capitulate, causing the unrecognized Italian Social Republic to cease to exist. The date of the beginning of the uprising was chosen as Italy’s Liberation Day — and today is the 80th anniversary.

Get the “Italy Liberation Day 2025” decal!
You’re able to earn this themed decal in honor of this day.

When: From April 25th (12:00 GMT) until April 28th (12:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles using Italian vehicles at rank III or higher to receive the “Italy Liberation Day 2025” decal!

Additional details:

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

“Italy Liberation Day 2025” decal

The Swiss FFA P-16 prototype attack aircraft first took to the skies on April 25th, 1955. A year later, the second prototype broke the sound barrier. Due to one of the test aircraft crashing, the Swiss government canceled the order for the P-16 and today only one example exists, located at the museum in Dübendorf.

The FFA P-16 is now available for Golden Eagles and is here to stay!
This jet is available for 9,090 Golden Eagles.

When: From April 25th (10:00 GMT).
Where: Germany > Aviation > Premium vehicles.

About this aircraft

• The FFA P-16 features two powerful 30 mm Hispano HS 825 cannons and hardpoints that can carry 200 to 1000 kg bombs, incendiary bombs, Type R80 rockets and Flz Lwf 63 air-to-air missiles (AIM-9B).
  

Aircraft

• A bug that caused “Reset Radar/IRST direction to boresight” to not center the radar scan zone in TWS mode when the radar was tracking a target has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused the auto tracker target track in the targeting optics to sometimes “fly” away from the target has been fixed.
  
• A bug where it was not possible to select another missile type through the visual weapons menu if the aircraft had two different missile types on the BOL countermeasure pylons has been fixed.
  

Naval Vessels

• A bug that sometimes caused the assistance notification to appear when destroying an enemy vessel has been fixed.
  

Graphics

• XeSS has been updated to version 2.0.1.
  
• A bug on Intel Arc GPUs that caused polygon mesh to be visible on the cockpit glass in rainy weather has been fixed.
  

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.