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War Thunder

Meet Major Update “Alpha Strike”!

Posted by Blitzkrieg Wulf on



Welcome to Alpha Strike!


Meet War Thunder’s first major update of 2024! We’ve added several interesting ground vehicles, some of which include five rank VII premiums, the formidable Fox light-tank, to the interesting looking 120S and Zerstörer 45. Hungarian aircraft have now made their way into Italy’s tree, where you’ll be able fly a range of fully-capable aircraft in air and ground battles. The nimble Alpha jet has arrived for Germany and France, plus the warmly welcomed Wessex for Britain. Additionally, IJN Mutsu — featuring the largest guns in the game — is now ready to sail for Japan. North Holland is a new ground forces map, featuring a town and plain terrain, perfect for different combat engagements. And lastly, you can also enjoy several Roadmap additions, one of which is an aircraft fuel slider!

There’s plenty of bug fixes, new vehicles and other features in this update, so be sure to read on!


Please feel free to leave your feedback on this Major update in the feedback thread here

Ground Vehicles: Several interesting Ground Vehicles for all Nations!

Every nation has received at least one ground vehicle, meaning there’s plenty to choose from: first up, the USSR, Japan, Italy, Sweden and Israel each get a rank VII premium ground vehicle, helping to research faster. Next, the fantastic Fox light tank, capable of being a nuisance for enemies, is ready to research in Great Britain’s ground tree! Check out Germany’s new Zerstörer 45 from WWII, plus the USA’s Frankenstein looking 120S, which combines an M1A1 turret onto an M60A1 hull. Scoot & shoot using China’s capable ZBD-04A light tank that can fire ATGMs from its barrel and APFSDS rounds from its automatic cannon. To round it all off, France can enjoy the VTT DCA SPAA for the lower tiers.


Christian II (store pack)

Zerstörer 45 M60 120S ZBD-04A FV721 Fox USA
Germany USSR
  • ZSU-23-4M4
  • T-80UD (Premium)
Great Britain
Japan
China
Italy
France
Sweden
Israel


Aircraft: Alpha Jets & Hungarian Aircraft take Center Stage!

Meet Alpha Strike in the air! This is the nimble Alpha jet for Germany and and France, capable of providing perfect ground strikes. Hungary’s air force makes an appearance, where you’re going to enjoy aircraft ranging from WWII classics such as the IL-10, to jets such as the MiG-15bis, and to top it all off, the JAS39C. The full list is in the changelog! In addition this, there’s the formidable rank VIII F-20A Tigershark premium pack for the USA, plus several aircraft for other nations too, including the Martel-capable Buccaneer S.2B, WWII classic Bf 109 C-1, F-5E FCU squadron vehicle, and the solid Su-25SM3. Happy flying!


F-20A Tigershark (store pack)

JAS39C (Hungary) Alpha Jet Bf 109 C-1 Buccaneer S.2B USA
Germany USSR
  • Su-25SM3
Great Britain
Japan
  • F-15J — unique detailed c*ckpit added
  • F-5 FCU (Squadron vehicle)









Italy
Hungarian subtree:
  • Yak-9P
  • Tu-2S-59
  • IL-10
  • IL-28
  • MiG-15bis
  • MiG-17PF
  • Su-22M3
  • MiG-21MF
  • MiG-21bis-SAU
  • MiG-23MF
  • MiG-29 (9-12B)
  • JAS39EBS HU C
France
  • Alpha Jet E













Israel
  • BAZ — unique detailed c*ckpit added













Helicopters: The wonderful Wessex, plus shiny new Apache c*ckpits!

Great Britain now has the interesting looking Wessex HU Mk.5, which can provide good fire support thanks to its AS.11 and 12 missiles. Furthermore, the USA and China has each received the AH-1W, which features plenty of Hellfire missiles for use against tanks! We’ve also given all AH-64 variants a brand-new fully detailed c*ckpit, and last but not least, Israel now has the AH-60 Battle Hawk that can fire Spike ER missiles!


Wessex HU.5

USA
  • AH-1W
  • AH-64A, AH-64D, AH-64A Peten, AH-64A (GR), YAH-64 — unique detailed c*ckpit and helmet-mounted display system has been added
Great Britain
  • Wessex HU Mk.5
  • AH Mk.1 Apache — unique detailed c*ckpit and helmet-mounted display system has been added

Japan
  • AH-64DJP — unique detailed c*ckpit and helmet-mounted display system has been added


China
  • AH-1W







Sweden
  • AHS — unique detailed c*ckpit and helmet-mounted display system has been added
Israel
  • AH-60
  • Peten, Saraph, AH-64A Peten — unique detailed c*ckpit and helmet-mounted display system has been added


Naval Vehicles: A new Record Holder for the Largest Guns!

There’s now a new vehicle with the biggest weapons in the game, and that’s the IJN Mutsu — this battleship features deadly 410 mm guns! 4 other nations have received ships: Great Britain the handy HMS Diamond premium, USA the new end-line USS Dealey Coastal fleet ship, Italy the RN Bolzano Heavy Cruiser, France the Kleber and new the end-line Bretagne Battleship for its Bluewater fleet. Time to set sail!


IJN Mutsu

USA
  • USS Dealey (DE-1006)
Great Britain
  • HMS Diamond (Premium)
Japan
Italy
  • RN Bolzano
France
  • Kleber
  • Bretagne


Locations & Missions: North Holland for Ground Forces!

Meet the North Holland location, which is a new ground forces map that features a stunning city and a large mall that you’re able to drive your vehicle inside of. We’ve based this new location on one of War Thunder’s most popular ground maps according to likes, Eastern Europe. In one area, there’s beautiful red lamps that illuminate the street, additionally there’s plenty of streets and open areas for several types of combat engagements! Besides this, for Air Realistic Battles we’ve added the new Golan Heights mission for top tier, where you’ll spawn in the sky instead of the airfield. Check it out!


North Holland

Additions from the 2024 Roadmap!

Following on from the Spring to Summer 2024 Roadmap, we’ve implemented several new features as previously planned.

To start, the highly anticipated aircraft fuel slider (within previous constraints) is now here, duplicated stock air-to-air missiles have been resolved, and minimap aircraft detection zones in ground battles have been added. Next, we’d like to share that some time ago we already implemented the improved synchronization of object destruction to production, and have extensively tested it ourselves and have closely watched reports about it. This feature is now completed.

Furthermore, there’s now new tutorial missions for different types of missiles that can be accessed through the “Tutorial” menu from the hangar, and there have been improvements to the replenishment mechanics while at capture zones in ground battles. Oh, you can also change the displayed items in the killfeed to whatever you want!

New Mechanics & Features: Sensor View Mode in Replay and a FCS for Naval Battles!

The amount of guided weapons, sensors and radars has grown, and to help, we’ve added a new sensor view mode when you’re watching a replay. Simply click this button and the visualization of the game world will change: the terrain, vehicles and more. This mode shows the operation of the radar and other interesting data of vehicles all across the map. You’re able to change marker filters, sensor filters and weapon parameters to what’s most interesting to you, so make sure to check it out and play around with it to see what you can learn!

We’ve also implemented a new Fire Control System interface for naval vessels. This is shown in the top left, and displays the heading angle and target speed allowing you to get a more accurate direction and speed of an enemy ship to help with leading when firing. There’s more information about this in the changelog!

There’s plenty more to look through!

Not every new feature can be listed here, so we’ll go through some briefly: some modern tanks have received unique engine sounds, you’re also now able to use a nuclear carrying aircraft when you acquire enough spawn points instead of needing to leave your current vehicle, and we’ve expanded the number of positions that decorations can be placed on ground vehicles. There’s also flight model adjustments for the Mosquito and Javelin! All-in-all, there’s many bug fixes and and other changes, so be sure to check out the full changelog. Have fun in War Thunder’s first 2024 major update!



Due to spatial constraints, the full changelog cannot be listed below. Please see the full changelog here[warthunder.com].


New locations and missions

  • North Holland — a new location for Ground Battles has been added.
  • A new Air Realistic Battle mission called “Kamchatka. East” on the “Kamchatka” map has been added.
  • A new Air Realistic Battle mission called “Golan Heights (aerial spawn)” on the Golan Heights map has been added. Players spawn in the air, but along the front line rather than in a single point. The mission is available on top tier.

Location and mission updates

  • Snow textures being too dirty on the Frozen Pass location have been fixed.
  • Gaps have been closed and the spawn points on the Carpathians location have been protected.
  • The aircraft part of the Karelia location has been expanded.
  • A stage airfield has been added to Air Realistic Battle missions based on the Enduring Confrontation logic (Spain, Vietnam, Rocky Canyon, Afghanistan). It is located closer to the front line and can not be spawned at, however it can be used to rearm and repair.
  • The physics of fallen trees has been improved. Now, they roll less after falling, and the crown of a tree now lays the ground, taking up less space on the screen.
  • Several changes to the “Low cloud” weather preset. The amount of clouds has been increased and their starting altitude has been lowered to make it more difficult for aircraft to attack from high altitudes, while reducing haze to make it easier to spot targets at low altitudes.
  • The size of destruction effects have been adjusted relative to the size of the objects being destroyed.
  • The airfield positioning mechanic has been improved, affecting all types of missions (air, ground etc). There should now be far fewer situations where the airfield is located on a prominent hill. However if such airfields are still found, please create a bug report indicating their position.
  • Destruction effects of different buildings and objects have been changed. The change is aimed to reduce the impact of effects on gameplay (prior to the change they could have caused the player to lose clear sight for a long time), and to fix the situations where small objects could have left too large destruction effects.

Ground Vehicle model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

  • Type 94 — the location and number of fuel tanks have been adjusted.
  • Gun Carrier (3-in) — the side and rear armor of the casemate have been adjusted.
  • ZT3A2 — the amount of missile ammunition has been increased from 12 to 15.
  • A fire indicator for external fuel tanks and ammunition storage with blowout panels has been added. Now, the player will know how much time is left before the fire extinguishes, which cannot be extinguished with FPE.
  • The burning time of external fuel tanks and ammunition stowage in blowout panels has been reduced.
  • The inability to extinguish a fire in internal modules when external fuel tanks and ammunition stowage in blowout panels were on fire has been fixed.
  • Following the Roadmap: The ability to replenish partially spent belts, magazines, and launchers for multiple missiles on captured points (without having to use all ammunition) has been added.
  • Following the Roadmap: A limit on the maximum reload time of belts and launchers for multiple missiles has been added.
  • Following the Roadmap: A pause of ammunition replenishment progress when moving through a capture point has been added.

Aircraft and helicopter model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

Weaponry

  • Following the Roadmap: The issue of duplicated stock air-to-air missiles in the weapons selector has been resolved
  • GBU-10, GBU-12, GBU-16, GBU-24 — drop limit of 1.01M has been added.
  • 30 mm GIAT M781 cannon — the muzzle velocity has been increased from 755 m/s to 810 m/s .
  • The weight of the gun has been increased from 150 kg to 212 kg .
  • The rate of fire has been reduced from 750 rounds per minute to 720 rounds per minute .
  • Armor-piercing bombs in the secondary weapon menu have been moved to the “To hit sea targets” group.
  • 30 mm DEFA cannon — the set of rounds, composing the filling of the belts for all DEFA cannons have been adjusted to HEI, HEF API-T.
  • Matra R550 Magic 1, Matra R550 Magic 2, AIM-54A, AIM-54C — the flight model has been adjusted, the speed at which the maximum overload is reached has been reduced.
  • F9F-8 — the ability to separately fire the forward-facing weapons has been added.
  • Ju 87 B-2 — the SC1000 bomb has been added.
  • F-86F-35, F-86F-40 — the M117 750 lb bomb has been added.
  • BB-1, Su-2 (all variants) — FAB-500sv bombs have been added (overloaded version).
  • J29F — the assortment of rockets has been expanded.
  • Vampire F.B.5, Vampire FB 52A — 500 lb bombs have been added.
  • IL-2 (all variants), IL-10 (all variants), Pe-2 (all variants), Pe-3 (all variants), Bf 110 G-2, Bf 110 G-4 — a bug that caused all rockets to be launched from one wing first has been fixed.
  • Beaufighter Mk 21 — the gun in the rear-facing turret has been changed from 7.7 mm Vickers K to 7.7 Browning.
  • MiG-23MLA — the ZB-500 incendiary bomb pylons were moved from the wing hardpoints to the fuselage hardpoints.
  • MiG-23M, MiG-23MLD — the ZB-500 incendiary bomb pylons were moved from the wing hardpoints to the fuselage hardpoints.
  • Ki-61-I hei, Ki-61-I ko, Ki-61-I otsu — for the Ho-103, the number of rounds per gun has been reduced from 400 to 250 rounds.
  • MH-60 DAP — the M134 and GAU-19 machine guns, and the LR30 cannon have been added.
  • IL-10 — the defensive machine gun has been changed from UBT machine gun to UBK machine gun.
  • Tu-14T — the FAB-1000 (welded) bomb has been replaced with the FAB-1000M-43 bomb.
  • Tu-4 — the FAB-500sv (welded) bomb has been replaced with the FAB-500M-46 bomb. The FAB-250sv bomb has been replaced with the FAB-250M-46 bomb. The FAB-1000 (welded) bomb has been replaced with the FAB-1000M-44 bomb.
  • Canberra B Mk 2 — the 4000 lb H.C. Mk.II bomb has been replaced with the 4000 lb H.C. Mk.IV bomb.
  • Meteor F Mk 8 G.41K — additional RP-3 rockets have been added.
  • F-104S.ASA — additional Mk 82, Mk 82 Snakeye, Mk 83 and M117 bomb loadouts for the central fuselage pylon have been added.
  • Meteor F Mk 3 — 1000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 bombs have been added.
  • Su-17M2, Su-17M4, Su-22M3, Su-22UM3K, Su-22M4 — additional drop tanks have been added to the Secondary weapons menu.
  • The AIM-7F/M, R-27R/ER, RB.71, Skyflash (all variants), Aspide, R-530F/D missiles are now less prone to switching to a target appearing in the direction different from the direction of the last target.
  • J35A, J35D, J35XS — 510 liter external fuel tanks have been added.
  • Spitfire F Mk 22, Spitfire F Mk 24 — the ability to fire the 20 mm cannons separately has been added.
  • JAS39 (all variants) — the ability to use additional drop tanks on the wing has been added.
  • Halifax B Mk.IIIa — incorrect aiming angles of the tail turret have been corrected.
  • Late 298D — negative speed and release height of the 1926DA torpedo have been fixed.
  • F-14A, F-14B — 280 gallons (1060 liters) drop tanks have been added.
  • F-16 (all variants) — 370 gallons (1400 liters) wing-mounted drop tanks have been added.
  • Harrier GR.7 — AGM-65G missiles have been added.
  • J-8F — the amount of countermeasures has been increased to 80.

Flight Model changes:

  • Automatic adjustment of the flap extension limit or automatic retraction of the flap depending on the current speed has been added to the aircraft with automatic flaps, “floating” type flaps and flaps with protective blow-up mechanisms. The list of these aircraft is: F8F-1, F8F-1B, P-51H-5, F-14A, F-14B, F-5E, F-16 (all variants), F-4 Phantom (all variants), AV-8A, AV-8C, AV-8B+, Harrier GR.1, Harrier GR.3, Harrier GR.7, Sea Harrier FRS.1, F-105D, A-4 (all variants), A-10A Early, A-10A Late, Mirage F1C, Mirage F1C-200, Lightning F.6, Lightning F.53, F-84F, F2H-2, MiG-21 (all variants), MiG-23 (all variants), MiG-27 (all variants), MiG-29 (all variants), J-7 (all variants), Typhoon Mk.1, F4F-3/4/Martlet, F6F (all variants), F4U (all variants), F2G-1, N1K1/2, J7W1, A7M (all variants), J6K1, Douglas AD-2/4, A-1H
  • Mosquito (all variants) — the flight model has been updated. Engine operating modes have been corrected. Distribution of fuel in the fuel tanks has been adjusted. The polars of the wings, fuselage, empennage, and propeller blades have been recalculated and corrected. This aircraft’s behavior while mechanisms (landing gear, flaps etc) are released has been corrected. Aircraft control when diving at high angles has been improved.
  • Javelin F.(.A.W.) Mk.9 — the flight model has been updated. The turn characteristics with the flaps extended to the Combat position have been improved. Handling at high rates of speed has been improved. The balance in landing and take-off modes has been improved and the stability margin in these modes has been reduced. Controlled stabilizer has been added. Pitch and yaw dampener has been added to the full-real controls mode.

Naval fleet model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

Naval weaponry:

  • The number of shell fragments from ship guns has been increased. Previously, due to technical limitations, the number of fragments that a projectile was capable of producing was lower than it should have been. This was compensated by an increase in the destructive power of some fragments in the nose and side dispersion cones.

    In a naval battle, when several thousand shells simultaneously fly and collide with objects, the calculation of this number of fragments affected performance and greatly reduced FPS.

    Improved processing makes it possible to increase the maximum number of projectile fragments to three thousand, and the calculation of interaction with objects can be made even faster.

    There are fewer blind spots between the flight sectors, and the density of the sectors has increased.

    At the same time, the maximum possible fragmentation damage of a projectile remains the same. The distribution scheme for damage from fragments has changed. Projectiles do not cause more damage than before, but have become better and are more likely to fully deliver their potential damage.

Interface

  • The targeting camera interface for TV guided missiles and bombs has been updated. This now displays the viewing angle of a narrow field of view (small rectangle) and target acquisition can be turned off by moving the seeker direction indicator from the center of the captured target.
  • Following the Roadmap: The following options have been added to the combat interface settings: “Show ammunition type in the destruction log”, and “Show squadron names in the destruction log”.
  • In graphics settings, an option to select on which monitor the client will run has been added.
  • In helicopter battle settings, an option to hide the interface in the c*ckpit view has been added.
  • In battle, a current status display has been added to the multi-function menu for the landing gear switch and manual roll control mode buttons.
  • When installing weapons on an aircraft that limit the sweep wing angles, a warning notification is now displayed.
  • Following the Roadmap: New training missions have been added, which allow you to familiarize yourself with the following weaponry:
    • Laser-guided air-to-surface missiles on aircraft with a targeting pod;
    • Laser-guided air-to-surface missiles on aircraft with a fixed beam;
    • Air-to-surface guided missiles with a TV seeker;
    • Air-to-surface guided missiles with a thermal imaging seeker;
    • Air-to-air guided missiles with an active radar homing seeker;
    • Laser-guided bombs on aircraft with a targeting pod;
    • Bombs with a TV seeker;
    • Bombs with a thermal imaging seeker;
  • Training missions, which allow you to familiarize yourself with weaponry, now can be played with preset vehicles with preset weaponry via the “Tutorial” menu. Previously, these missions could only be launched after receiving a specific modification through the vehicle modification window.

Game mechanics

  • In Ground Realistic Battles, the ability to fly a nuclear carrying aircraft without leaving the current controlled vehicle has been added. When the relatively close amount of spawn points has been accumulated, an inactive button for flying the aircraft will appear on the action panel with an indication of the current amount of spawn points.
  • When enough spawn points have been accumulated, the button will become active. Taking off with a nuclear carrying aircraft is available when controlling both ground vehicles and aircraft. It is not possible to switch to the controlled vehicle and back, so make sure to safely position your vehicle before using the nuclear carrying aircraft.
  • A bug where the nuclear explosion and the “Doomsday” reward could be issued when the battle was a defeat, and after the battle was finished has been fixed. Now, the reward is only given when a bomb explodes, and the bomb will only explode if at least one team still has points left and the mission is not considered finished.
  • In Ground Realistic Battles, the nuclear carrying IL-28 and Canberra B Mk 6 now have an air spawn right above the airfield, like the Tu-4 and B-29. This change is meant to reduce the approach time of these nuclear carrying aircraft to the tank battlefield to the values close to other nuclear carrying aircraft.
  • Following the Roadmap: In Ground Realistic Battles, detection zones for enemy aircraft have been added near air spawn zones and helipads. The size of the detection zones depend on the distance between the corresponding team spawn points: if the distance between them is less than 15 km, then the radius of the detection zone is 2 km, otherwise it is 5 km. When a player in an aircraft is in an enemy detection zone, they will not receive any message letting them know this.

    This is because this message is not as useful in air combat as it is for ground vehicles, however the player in an aircraft will be able to see the detection zones on the mini-map when they are in one. When enemy aircraft are in the detection zone, it is shown to the entire team on the mini-map, regardless of their position and condition.
  • In Ground Battles, air defense at nearby helipads have been removed, since they only performed the function of detecting enemies, which is now performed by the detection zone. In Simulator Battles, air defense have also been removed, despite the absence of aircraft detection zones, since air defense shots without damage do not combine with other mechanics in this mode.
  • In Ground Battles at a Battle Rating of 1.0-2.7, an airfield with a longer runway is used. This airfield was previously used in sessions at a Battle Rating of 3.0-7.3.
  • In Ground Battles, closer airfields and closer spawn points are now used in sessions at a Battle Rating up to and including 7.7, rather than 7.3.
  • A bug in Ground Realistic and Simulator battles that caused the last player alive in the team to be considered inactive if they had no respawns left and was at an airfield or helipad (even in a fully operational vehicle) has been fixed.
  • In Ground Arcade, Realistic and Simulator battles, as well as in Custom Battles sessions with the option “Keep destroyed units” enabled, the repeated effect of the explosion of ground vehicles when the player who controlled this vehicle respawned has been removed.
  • A bug where the cable became detached from a towed destroyed ground vehicle at the moment when that player respawned has been fixed.
  • Following the Roadmap: The ability to select any amount of fuel ranging from the minimum to the maximum values for internal fuel tanks before an aircraft spawn has been added.
  • In Helicopter battles (PvE), wagers have been disabled because of the absence of enemy players, similar to how it works in the “Assault” mode.

Sound

  • The Leclerc series have received new engine and track sounds, which are different from the previously used sounds of the Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks.
  • The AMX-30 series have received new engine and track sounds, which are different from the previously used sounds of the Chieftain tanks.
  • The C1 Ariete series have received new engine sounds, which are different from the previously used sounds of the Leopard 2 tank.
  • The 2A70 gun has received its own firing and reloading sounds, since the gun has a low muzzle velocity and has a specific automatic loader.
  • Piston and subsonic jet engine sounds are now accurately positioned on aircraft models. Previously, when the speed of sound emulation was enabled, they followed behind aircraft models, thereby emulating a sound delay.
  • A bug when shooting smoke grenades from enemies and allies sometimes caused the sounds of an ATGM passing by to play for a nearby player has been fixed.
  • Norwegian ground vehicle crews in the Swedish tree have received Norwegian voice lines.
  • The US ground commander’s voice has been changed.
  • Video tips have been added for some aircraft modifications.

Controls

  • The ability to control the seeker of air-to-surface missiles and bombs in third-person view has been added. When you turn on the seeker, a mark appears in this view indicating the direction of the seeker coordinator, which follows the mouse pointer and allows the player to lock onto the target by pressing the launch button.