Dear players,

We have another round of questions and answers for you, with War Thunder producer Vyacheslav Bulannikov!

Mach 1-2 Jets

Is it possible the J-7II will receive any new missiles in the future such as PL-5 or PL-7? Will the MiG-21 also get any new improved missiles too?

If these missiles were historically mounted on these versions of the aircraft, then it is possible. The problem with the MiG-21 and newer missiles is that newer missiles were not put on the current version of the aircraft since these missiles require new pylons.

The MiG-21F-13 is quite restricted in its armament. Is it possible we will see later variants with more weapons? 

For sure, we plan on several more versions of the MiG-21 (and we are already working on them). We understand that the current version is limited in capability but it was a widespread version that took part in different war conflicts, so we decided to start with it as, in some ways, a cult vehicle.

Now we are getting even more modern aircraft that can burn through their entire fuel loads significantly faster, the need for external fuel drop tanks has really become significant. Lots of aircraft in game would benefit from such a feature. Are there any plans for this?

Due to the reasons described above, we are not going to exclude this possibility.

France could really use a competitive top rank aircraft as the Super Mystere has suffered for some time. Is it possible we could see the French F-100 as a temporary solution before later French aircraft are ready?

The Mirage is planned for sure and it is already in the development like some other French aircraft, but we will consider this proposal.

China

Is it possible we will see a full Chinese Helicopter and Naval tree in the future?

Yes, we have plans for a Chinese helicopter research tree. This will not be such a hard task due to an already good amount of vehicles which we can choose from. Also China has their own domestic designed helicopters. With the Naval research tree, which we also have in our plans, it is an entirely opposite situation and hence, more complex.

Are any more Vietnamese or North Korean variants of vehicles as possible candidates for the Chinese tree?

We are not excluding that, but at the moment there are no details.

British Helicopters

The British helicopter tree is rather small in comparison to all other nations’ main branches, with most nations having at least 5-6 available for research in the main branch alone and Britain having only 3. Given that the Scout & Wasp are almost identical and rather low in performance/ordnance choices, do you plan to work on more British helicopters to balance out the tree numerically with other nations? 

Yes, we plan to develop the British helicopter research tree in the future. 

Are there any limitations behind the Westland Gazelle AH Mk 1 not being included? The British tested it with weaponry and the Westland version was capable of mounting everything that the French Aerospatiale variants even if they did not in service just like the German helicopters have American/Mexican weaponry options available to use in game. Gazelles were deployed used in the Falklands with 68mm SNEBS at least by the British. Is it possible for the future?

The main problem is that according to our information, British gazelles were armed with only 2 x 6 SNEB 68mm rocket units, which in total provides only 12 rockets. This is extremely small by the games standards, considering only volley fire is relatively effective. The other photos we have of these helicopters are contradictory, because they show ATGM suspension without control equipment. We continue to search for information and will be grateful for any help on the matter. In the meantime, we are considering other options for the British branch, for example Westland Wessex, it is noticeably different from its American ancestor and carries a variety of weapons.

Other

We have many new aircraft and helicopters with multiple loadout configurations, is it possible you will rework the loadout system to be more clear and eiffecent? Such as a modular loadout selection that allows you to see all the options more clearly?

We understand the problem and agree that aircraft with a large number of suspended weaponry presets isn’t very convenient and easy to see, so we plan to improve this system in the future.

Now that we have more modern aircraft, can you please introduce new larger and modern AI aircraft carriers with angled flight decks that can properly accommodate Jets in top tier maps? We are still operating from pre-war carriers in extremely post war aircraft now. 

Yes, we have plans to design new aircraft carriers from which we can normally use post-war jets.

Since there are now premium Helicopters with air-to-air missiles, is it possible you can improve helicopter battles EC matchmaking so that people with only the first early helicopters like the AH-1G, Mi-4, H-34, Scout/Wasp and Alouette II don't have to face fully advanced air-to-air capable helicopters like Eurocopter, AH-1Z, Mi-35M and Lynx? They are almost impossible to counter with lower rank helicopters.

This is a very hard task in reality when taking into account the low popularity of purely helicopter battles. However, we are exploring possible solutions for this problem.

The War Thunder Team