We are happy to reveal that in the upcoming War Thunder major update we plan to introduce the Italian navy to the game! We look forward to introducing these naval beauties and telling you about many of them in our upcoming Devblog articles, so keep an eye on the news! 

Today we want to present one of the vessels that will be introduced as part of the Italian naval research tree - the torpedo boat MS-15.

MS-15, motor torpedo boat, Italy, rank I.

Pros

• Excellent mobility
• Small silhouette

Cons

• Light protection
• Average crew complement

In War Thunder, the CRDA 60t-class of Italian motor torpedo boats will be represented by several units. One of those is the MS-15 1a, a vessel of the first production series of the class. Together with many other unique Italian vessels of the mosquito fleet, the MS-15 will form the backbone of the early ranks in the brand new Italian naval tree, coming to War Thunder with upcoming update.

Offering a balanced combination of good seaworthiness and decent firepower, the MS-15 1a will be a perfect choice for captains ready to get their feet wet with the upcoming Italian naval forces. The MS-15 1a features a reasonable top speed of 33 knots (61 km/h), thanks to the power provided by three 1,150 horsepower petrol engines, generating a combined power output of 3,450 horsepower. Although it won’t win any races when pitted against some of its contenders at the early ranks, the MS-15 1a instead promises its captains excellent agility, which when coupled with the vessel’s relatively small silhouette, makes for quite the difficult target to hit at times.

Speaking of hitting targets, the MS-15 is equipped with a pair of single Breda 20mm cannon mounts on either end of the ship’s hull. Alas, its shells are generally weaker compared to other nation’s 20mm, and 12 round clips. Nonetheless, these will form the vessel’s primary weapons for dealing with other light vessels as well as any low flying aircraft. Last, but certainly not least, the MS-15 also has access to two 533mm torpedo launchers, mounted on the vessel’s bow - similarly to German S-boots. Torpedoes are definitely this boat’s ace in the hole, able to hit even larger targets ideally between 3 and 12 kilometres distance (depending on the modifications researched).

However, as with many vessels of the early ranks in War Thunder naval forces, the MS-15 also only has a small crew complement consisting of just 19 sailors. As a result, the vessel is relatively fragile and cannot survive sustained fire from opponents in a heated firefight, giving the use of mobility paramount importance.