After multiple tests, we improved the scoring of critical hits, vehicle eliminations, and kill assists to aircraft/helicopters:

Critical damage

• The damage is now considered critical only when it directly affects flight characteristics, not when merely dealing damage to certain portions of an aircraft. This makes scoring damaging effects more adequate, since similar impairments work differently for different aircraft: some become uncontrollable, while others are still able to fly.
• One target may receive several critical hits from different players. Now every shooter is able to score his/her own critical hits each time.
• Critical damage still has its effect period, this period is now 90 seconds. During this period, each similar hit won’t count as an additional critical. When this period expires, you are able to re-inflict critical damage to the same target.
• Critical damage may also have delayed effect. For example, a disabled radiator could cause an engine to overheat and fail or may be followed by a fire destroying multiple parts of an aircraft. In this case, the scoring of  critical damage occurs immediately after these damaging effects occur on the target aircraft. Such critical damage has no effect period and is considered active at all times.
• You’ll get an on-screen notification each time critical or serious damage is dealt.
• Critical damage notifications appear only when critical damage is dealt.

Serious damage

• Serious damage is damage to certain parts and modules of an aircraft that does not directly affect its flight characteristics and controls, but is close to inflicting Critical damage.
• Serious damage is less than Critical, but may always lead up to Critical.
• Serious damage has an effect period and is active for 15 seconds in able to allow a player to score a kill, or 30/60/80 seconds (AB/RB/SB) to score a kill assist.
• Unlike Critical damage, Serious damage is removed from the target when the timer expires, although it can be ‘refreshed’ on a target by scoring more hits.

Simple damage

• Simple damage is any damage that is not Critical or Serious.
• Active for 15 seconds, then it is removed from the target.

Target destruction

• Target destruction is scored immediately when lethal damage is done to any target (i.e. pilot knock out, destruction of a main support inside the wing, tail cut, or a fuel explosion inside the aircraft)
• If a target crashes, the following scoring scenarios are implemented;
  • When a targets damage affect period refreshes (after 90 seconds) Critical damage and target destruction score goes to the pilot who inflicted the heaviest supplemental damage, not the last one;
  • Without new Critical damage occurring, the score goes to the last pilot which inflicted Serious or Simple damage in the last 15 seconds before the crash (as it was previously in the game);
  • Without any additional Critical, Serious or Simple damage, but Critical Damage was inflicted previously. The score goes to the one who inflicted the heaviest Critical damage before the damage effect timer expired.
• Target destruction does not score if a target aircraft successfully lands on an airfield and is able to repair.

Kill assist

• Kill assist scores occur when any pilot inflicts new Critical (less than 90 seconds) or Serious (30/60/80 for AB/RB/SB) damage before the targets destruction.
• Simple damage will not score a Kill Assist.

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.