Welcome to Firebirds!

Meet Firebirds, War Thunder’s second to last 2024 major update!

Immediately worth mentioning is that the F-117A has joined the ranks as a squadron vehicle, providing brand-new stealth capability to the game! Several jet aircraft including the Tornado GR.4, Su-34 and F-15E Strike Eagle have entered the fray, as well as several cockpit remakes and two brand-new helicopters. As for ground vehicles, Firebirds focuses on lighter vehicles and filling gaps, including the Skink and T77E1 SPAA for the US, Ram II and Scimitar for Great Britain, the PLZ05 for China and three Dutch Leopards for France. Dunkerque takes center stage for naval, while the Abandoned Factory map has received a visual update, providing a freshened experience for tankers. Test flights have been greatly expanded with more enemies, options and new airfields, and lastly the game has seen a large amount of updates to graphics & effects, including Ray tracing, new afterburner visuals, LERX vapor and much more.

There’s many fixes, new vehicles and other features — take a look at what we’ve included in this major update.

Ground Vehicles: SPAA & Lighter Vehicles Take the Spotlight

Firebirds sees the addition of several lighter vehicles to fill many roles in several trees. First off is the Scimitar, Luchs A2, ICV (P) for Great Britain, Germany and Japan respectively, and the BMP-2MD squadron vehicle for Sweden, giving their respective nations more diversity in multiple lineups at their ranks. We’ve also supplemented the US’s SPAA line with the T77E1 and Canadian Skink, giving this nation some additional anti-air capability across more Battle Ratings. The USSR now has the Object 140 premium tank, Israel the Sabra Mk.1, Great Britain the premium Ram II and China the PLZ05. Several nations have the Osa-AK added to their SPAA lines, and France has received three Dutch Leopard variants to give top-tier lineups more options.

USA

• T77E1
• Skink

Germany

• Luchs A2
• Osa-AK

USSR

• Object 140 (Pack)
• Osa-AKM

Great Britain

• Scimitar
• Ram II (Premium)
• Osa-AK

Japan

• ICV (P)

China

• PLZ05

Italy

• Osa-AKM​​​​​

France

• Leopard 2A4NL
• Leopard 2A5NL
• Leopard 2A6NL

Sweden

• BMP-2MD (Squadron Vehicle)

Israel

• Sabra Mk.1

Aircraft: Stealth Technology Enters War Thunder with the F-117A!

Something special and unique has come to the game in the Firebirds update! Please welcome the F-117A, a squadron vehicle aircraft with a lower IR and radio signature thanks to its stealth technology. For other nations, the Su-34 and Tornado GR.4, both featuring the brand-new to the game “Grom-2” guided bomb and “Brimstone” guided missile, plus the famous F-15E Strike Eagle, all providing supreme CAS capabilities. Three new jet premiums, the Thai AV-8S Harrier for Japan, JA37DI for Sweden and the Su-22M4 for Germany provide these nations with some additional research options. We’ve also given several aircraft cockpits an update — check the full list below!

USA

• F-117A OCIP II (Squadron Vehicle)
• F-15E

Germany

• Ju 87 (all variants) — cockpit model has been updated.
• Su-22M4 WTD61 (Pack)

USSR

• Su-34
• BB-1 — cockpit model has been updated.
• Su-2 (all variants) — cockpit model has been updated.

Great Britain

• Tornado GR.4

Japan

• AV-8S (Pack)

China

• Mirage 2000 5Ei

France

• Mirage 2000 RMV​​​​​​

Sweden

• JA37DI
• JA37DI F21(Pack)

Israel

• F-15I Ra’am

Helicopters: South African Super Hind & Cockpit Updates!

Another South African helicopter enters the fray — meet the Super Hind for Great Britain! This squadron vehicle brings with it the devastating tandem warhead Ingwe missile, capable of striking fear and devastation into enemy tanks. The USSR now have the modern Mi-8 AMTSh-VN, a powerful beast with Ataka missiles, a premium Pakistani Mi-35M for China and lastly cockpits for the OH-58D and A-109EOA-2 have been updated with a ton of detail.

USA

• OH-58D — detailed cockpit has been added.

USSR

• Mi-8 AMTSh-VN

Great Britain

• Super Hind (Squadron Vehicle)

China

• Mi-35M (Premium)
• OH-58D — detailed cockpit has been added.

Italy

• A-109EOA-2 — detailed cockpit has been added.

Naval Fleet: The Formidable Dunkerque Takes Center Stage!

France’s top tier naval capabilities have been greatly extended with the addition of the Dunkerque Battleship, featuring two turrets with eight 330 mm (13 inch) guns and excellent armor! Great Britain now has HMS Repulse with 381 mm (15 inch) guns, comparable to the HMS Renown already in the game through a previous event. Closed beta testing of the French Coastal fleet has ended as well, meaning you can research any of these boats without needing to have a pack or complete tasks.

USA

• USS Bagley

USSR

• Pr.253L

Great Britain

• HMS Repulse

Japan

• JDS Murasame

Italy

• MS 444 (Premium)
• RN Francesco Caracciolo

France

• Dunkerque
• Closed beta testing of the French Coastal fleet has concluded. The ability to research these vessels is now available to all players.

Locations & Missions: Visually Updated “Abandoned Factory” Map!

We’ve given Abandoned Factory a makeover! This map has been visually updated in almost every aspect. The aim of this graphics update was to give the map a more up-to-date look and a greater “abandoned” feel with the addition of more foliage and broken structures.

Additionally, with no new location in this major update, we’ve taken the time to improve some of the older maps as well. Please check the full details in the changelog.

Airfields & Test Flights: Greatly Improved To Provide A Better Experience

In Firebirds, we aimed to greatly improve airfields and test flights. We’ve not only improved aspects inside of them, but have also added several new options. Firstly within the test flight itself are more enemies to shoot at as well as bases to bomb. Airfields now feature better and richer details such as a taxiways, a control tower, hangars and finer details such as aircraft skid marks at each end of the runway. These new airfields are also available in standard, high-ranked Air battles.

Three new options have been added to the test flight menu! One long-awaited feature is the ability to spawn in the air instead of just the airfield, with altitudes ranging from 500 m to 7 km for planes and up to 2 km for helicopters.

You can also choose several location types and the rank of enemy targets, and carrier-based aircraft can select an aircraft carrier or airfield to spawn at.

Additionally, you can choose a hostile air defense zone to spawn at — in these areas SAMs and SPAA will attack your aircraft, allowing you to test out defense ranges and your evasive skills.

Graphics & Physics: Beautiful Visual Upgrades and Moveable, Non-Playable Vehicles

Firebirds brings with it a wide variety of upgrades for graphics and effects all across the game. From new afterburners to LERX vapor on aircraft, to new rain and snow effects for maps, to more dynamic fires on ships and debris from destroyed vessels floating on the water, there’s an update everywhere you look! Tracer visibility has also been greatly improved, helping you to better aim your shots (or draw a love-heart in the sky!).

We’ve taken great care to ensure that these new graphical improvements don’t impact game performance. There’s plenty more, with the full list in the changelog.

Train carriages and most non-playable vehicle map assets were previously completely static and could not be pushed. In Firebirds, we’ve made it so that train carriages can be moved around with ground vehicles, which will provide new gameplay elements through this new form of soft moveable cover. Cars located on all maps have received new destruction physics, allowing them to deform and not necessarily stay in place when destroyed.

More Graphic Settings & Ray Tracing Comes to War Thunder!

War Thunder now has a Ray Tracing solution that doesn’t cut corners. We have all maps in ray tracing structures, and it can perform a range of graphical features based on it! The following Ray Tracing options have been added to the game. A description of each one is mentioned in the major changelog.

• Ray Traced Shadow Maps (RTSM)
• Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion (RTAO)
• Ray Traced Reflections (RTR)
• Ray Traced Water Reflections
• Ray Traced Translucent reflections

A new graphics API option (Direct3D 12) and new anti-aliasing options (FSR 3.1, DLAA, XeSS and TSR) have been added to the graphic settings menu. Additionally, the graphic settings menu has been given an overhaul! We’ve added in-game screenshots and clearer descriptions for each setting, allowing you to see exactly what each one changes.

Following the Roadmap: Portable Ammunition Boxes

Boxes of ammunition can now be built in ground battles, with these boxes allowing you to replenish ammunition outside of capture points anywhere on the map. To build, simply press the default key shown on the hotbar in-game and place the ammunition box down when it turns green, meaning it can be placed. There’s a small construction time, but once done a physical box and ammo icon will appear! From here, you can drive near it and your ammunition will start to replenish.

Only specific vehicle types can build ammunition boxes. They include: Tank Destroyers, ATGM carriers (stat card type, not any vehicle with an ATGM), all SPAA vehicles and ground vehicles with additional rockets and bombs (Calliope, M26 T99, RBT-5, Cromwell V (RP-3), Matilda Hedgehog, Magach Hydra).

There is a range of details surrounding ammunition boxes and how they work, all mentioned in the major changelog, so be sure to check it out!

Following the Roadmap: Profile Expansion!

Your player profile is the perfect place to see the stats and details of your account that you’ve accumulated over the years. We’ve improved this area to make it feel more personal. The profile menu is now fullscreen and all important aspects are shown on the main page. Please bear in mind this is only the first stage of profile improvements, more will be coming down the line — we’re working on some cool things.

Shot Replays: See Where Your Shots and Enemy Hits Landed Post-Battle

Ever wondered where your vehicle took a hit or where your shots landed on an enemy? We've added a new feature that lets you see exactly that! Simply click the "Hit Analysis" button to simulate the incoming and outgoing shots from your previous battle. Each shot is individually labeled, showing the type of projectile used and the range it was fired from. This feature works for all vehicles and all ammunition in the game.

Awards: New Awards For Your Efforts

Ever shot down a nuke aircraft after they dropped the bomb? Or have you gained enough spawn points for your nuclear aircraft but didn’t manage to drop it before the battle ended?

We’ve added two new awards, “The end is near” for shooting down one of these aircraft that has already dropped their nuke, and “One minute to midnight”, awarded for completing a mission while in a nuke aircraft without the nuke detonating. Each award will give you some Silver Lions.

There’s plenty more to see!

That’s it for this news, but be sure to check out the full list of changes in the provided changelog, as there’s many bug fixes, improvements and additional vehicle changes not mentioned here. Let us know what you think and be sure to leave your feedback on our forums and official social media channels — we’d love to hear.

Download the update and join the battle!

FULL LIST OF CHANGES