Seasons greetings to all our players!

We hope you're enjoying this festive time of year. As an extra special Christmas treat, we have a bumper Q&A with War Thunder developer Vyacheslav Bulannikov!

Q. 2018 saw quite a focus on the USA, USSR and Germany, each receiving their own Naval and Helicopter lines before the other nations. Do you plan to focus more on other nations in 2019?

A. It not quite correct to say that we focused only on these nations, as we also released the Italian branch of ground forces and naval forces for 4 nations; the USSR, USA, Germany and the UK. We are also simultaneously developing various vehicles for several nations at the same time, as soon as they become ready we introduce them into the game in accordance to our plans. Unfortunately you always have to make a decision who exactly will get the new toys first. On the topic of the original question, we have plans to add Naval Forces and other branches of equipment to other nations too.

Q Do you have any plans for any new nations?

A. This question is still under discussion; we cannot answer anything concrete yet.

Q Have you planned to improve or create new game mods for planes or tanks? We got the same for quite some time. More AI maybe?

A. We plan to work on AI for its possible use in missions, but we also think you should wait for World War mode as we plan to launch it next year. Given the presence of the strategic part, it often generates very interesting battles, including asymmetrical ones.

Q In WW2 air combat footages, we see a lot of smoke rising from destroyed things on the ground. Have you planned to add it? Maps feel too “clean” from the air.

A. We are already introducing similar effects, which can be seen in the new naval maps. Perhaps something similar will appear on aviation

Q. What can you tell us about Rank VI aviation for Italy, Germany, Japan and France?

A. We plan to add Rank VI aviation for other nations in 2019.

Q. Will German Rank VI jets also be East & West like their current top jets?

A. Probably, yes.

Q. Are there still Rank V aircraft in development too? Like the Swift and MD.454 Mystère IVA?

A. At the moment we are more focused on adding Rank VI aircraft and new systems for them. However, from time to time we will introduce aircraft to other ranks.

Q. Now we have the Italian ground tree, do you have more CAS planned for Italy?

A. Unfortunately, there are not as many viable options as we would like, but yes, something else will be added to the Italian branch of strike aircraft.

Q. What tweaks have you planned for the missile warnings? In simulator battles, planes without detection system are still able to detect missiles and it’s not very realistic.

A. As we wrote in our dev blog, this warning simulates the visual detection of a missile launch by a pilot or his allies and a message about this is sent to the pilot who is under attack. Therefore, it has its limitations - depending on the crew skill, speed, the delay between the launch of the missile and the appearance of a message is from 1.5 to 3 seconds, so you have the opportunity to start at a lethal distance, meaning the main task is to deploy it correctly. Also, given our plans to expand the capabilities of Air-to-Air missiles, and adding more advanced modifications, it is possible that without the warning, the missiles would become too serious a threat. Keep in mind that current missiles are designed for hitting targets with 2G overload, but already the AIM-9E for example can hit targets maneuvering with overload up to 6-7G, as well as an increased capture range. But we are also considering the possibility of splitting a launch warning according to complexity modes.

Q. Have you planned to rework the G system? Pilots never really black out, they grey out and can still control their planes. It’s making high tier jet battles dull.

A. No, we are satisfied with the current system for implementing overloads, and is indeed a certain compromise between playability and realism.

Q. Do you have any plans regarding Helicopters for the UK, France, Japan and Italy?

A. Yes, we have similar plans.Helicopters of these nations are already in development.

Q. Will we see new additions to the existing trees (USA, USSR and Germany) next year?

A. Yes.

Q. Can you make Helicopter only Arcade and Realistic Permanent modes?

A. Yes, we have plans to change the current helicopter battles. We will be able to go into more detail when we are closer to implementation.

Q. What can you tell us about the Japanese and Italian Navies in 2019?

A. We can say that the ships of both of these nations are in development. You have already seen some of them during the CBT, but a full branch requires many more ships of various ranks and types, therefore as soon as we are ready we will present the fleets of these countries. We plan to introduce the first of the new nations in Naval Battles in the first half of 2019.

Q. Is there any more news as to if France will get a Naval line?

A. So far we can not provide any details about the French fleet, but we hope that we can find enough ships of the types that we need to implement a full line.

Q. The April Fools event was the last time we saw or heard about Submarines. Will we ever see them in Naval Forces?

A. It's hard to say right now. We do not have plans in the near future to introduce submarines in the game. We have already expressed at the issues of implementing submarines of the WWII era; too slow for realistic battles, and requiring additional an means of detection and destruction. Perhaps more interesting gameplay could come from the submarines that we tested during the April 1st event, but also their implementation in the same game with ships and aircraft will pose many new questions. Therefore, until we focus on this type of technology, we don't have any plans to share.

Q. France could really use some more Rank VI machines with gun stabilization. Are the AMX-32 or AMX-30V possible? What about on of the Leclerc Preseries or prototypes?

A. Yes, we are considering some modifications of the AMX-30 (for example, Super AMX-30) to enter the game, and later tanks are also possible.

Q. Are more armoured cars and light scouts planned? The Italians have some great machines added, but France and Britain have many more low and high rank options like the Panhard EBR,  FV721 Fox, Skorpion, Sabre or Scimitar.

A. Yes, we will see more wheeled armored vehicles. Right now, we can't provide details as to which ones.

Q. Has the Canadian 20mm Skink Anti-Aircraft ever been considered as premium SPAAG for the British? They don’t have a lot of SPAAG options in general and it would be a nice counter to the Wirbelwind.

A. Since this vehicle is Canadian, then adding it to the premium line in Britain or the United States is logical, but a SPAAG with rather low armor penetration as a premium vehicle looks controversial, so maybe we might consider implementing it as an event machine.

Q. Do you have any plans to split BR for aircraft between Ground Battles and Aircraft only battles (so CAS aircraft BR in Ground Battles can be adjusted separately)?

A. No, there are no such plans. Adding another BR, as we believe, will unnecessarily complicate the game and confuse the players.

Other Q&A can be found here!

The War Thunder Team