Today, we’d like to share with you some of the new features and effects coming to War Thunder in the upcoming “Sons of Attila” major update!

New trees and wind effects

We’re introducing a brand new technology for the trees present on Ground Forces battlefields. Now tree branches and trunks will sway and move with the same wind forces that already impact smoke and weather during battles. In calmer situations, trees will be still and motionless. However, with gusty and stormy winds present, trees will move and bend depending on how strong the wind is!

Shots and explosions

In our efforts to make tank battles even more spectacular, the game will now have new effects for the discharge of powder gasses after every shot. Prolonged bursts of machine gun fire and autocannons now also lead to reddening of the barrels due to heating. The effects of hits to enemy vehicles have also been improved. Fuel leaking from burning tanks can also pour onto the ground in burning jets, and each explosion leads to the formation of a cloud of dust raised from the ground by a shock wave! We have also improved the visual effect of smoke munitions detonating.

Destroyable ammo and decorators

Now all external ammunition on vehicles, be it smoke grenades or bombs on aircraft suspensions, can be hit and destroyed by enemy fire. External ammunition can be destroyed without detonation (in this case it will be subtracted from the total ammunition load), detonated (with the standard parameters for damaging its warhead) or set on fire. The probability of a particular event depends on the power of the damaging factors of the hit projectile — the more powerful, the greater the likelihood of an explosion. So even well-aimed machine gun fire or a high-explosive shell that hits a tank can trigger its smoke grenades, and the enemy will find himself inside his own smoke screen. Lastly, if installed decorators are hit by enemy fire, they can also be destroyed!

Aircraft voice warning systems

On modern aircraft, voice informant warnings will now be present on those aircraft that had them. Pilots will be able to hear them both in third-person view and while playing from the cockpit. “Bitchin’ Betty” will warn you about dangerous altitudes, critical G-force overloads, warning signals from the radar warning receiver, and alert you to the readiness of guided weapons on the aircraft. In the “Sons of Attila” major update, “Bitchin’ Betty” will be available for the F-16 series and AH-64D, while Soviet pilots will have the “Rita” voice warning system for the Ka-50, Ka-52, Mi-28N, Mi-28NM, Mi-24V, Mi-24P (USSR), as well as for the MiG-29s.

An aircraft voice warning system is a pilot's best friend!

Realistic HUD for helicopters

The cockpits of modern helicopters will now also be equipped with fully functional HUDs similar to what some aircraft already have. The first helicopters to receive the new HUDS are the Ka-50/52, Mi-28N/NM and Mi-35M series of helicopters.