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War Thunder presents

Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters"

You can download the Update right now, it will be deployed in a couple of hours!

23 new and improved vehicles, two locations, High-resolution Texture Streaming and many other novelty changes! According to our recent good tradition, the wait for a new major update has not been too long. Meet - update 1.63 “Desert Hunters”!

New Locations

Pilots will receive a new aircraft location in "Greece", inspired by the Mediterranean landscape. Stunning scenery and unique Greek rock formations is included. Another map in this update where air warriors can gain help from ground vehicles. "Sinai" - a desert location on a peninsula on the Red Sea, just on the border between Asia and Africa. What can warm us up better this fall than a good battle in the desert, where temperatures reach 40 degrees Celsius in the shade!

"Greece"	"Sinaï"

Ground Vehicles

What can you use to hunt in the sand amongst the sun bleached rocks, boulders and ancient castles? What about some missile armament?  The FV438 “Swingfire”, our first British non-premium vehicle equipped with ATGMs. Among the 15 new vehicles in this update - a top ZSU, a new modification of the "Leopard", and real land ironclad - the multi turreted British A1E1 Independent.

Leopard 1A1A1		M163 Vulcan		A1E1 Independent		ZSU-23-4 Shilka

Full list of Ground Vehicles

Aircraft

Nine new and improved aircraft: The Japanese lineup is replenished by three aircraft, the US has a new "jet" added, the British tree has been reinforced with a couple of new twin-engined aircraft and Germany has the first superheavy "flying boat".

F9F-8 Cougar		BV-238		Ki-87		Su-6

Full list of Aircraft

Other Changes

System:

• High-resolution Texture Streaming added.

Interface changes:

• Improvements to the detail shown in the ground forces damage camera: Now more detail is shown with damage inflicted from module hits.
• Added the display of Mach numbers for aircraft in critical speed situations and with the destruction of the aircraft structure.

Artificial Intelligence updates:

• Fixed AI Fighters attacking ground units when not equipped to do so. 
• When a player is disconnected from the Network, an AI player takes over control of their aircraft. 

Locations updates:

• Kursk:
  • Church in the center village has been added.
  • Changes and improvements in balance. 
• Volokolamsk:
  • The water tower has been replaced by a Church.
•  Krymsk, Volokolamsk, Karelia, Stalingrad:
  • Balance changes and improvements. 
• Fixed bridge and bridge support collision with aircraft and ground vehicles.

Visual effects:

• Tracer effects have been improved.
• Tank fire effects, explosions and ammo rack fire effects have been improved.
• Aircraft wreckage physics have been improved.
• Fixed the animation of ailerons and flaps on some aircraft.
• Fixed the location of leaks, smoke and fire of engines in a number of multi-engine aircraft.
• Added smoke that occurs when the engine is damaged or faulty.

Controls:

• View and zoom controls can be configured separately for different unit types.
• Control settings properly apply when device configuration is changed.
• The ability to assign keys to activate the "Crew replenishment" function has been added.
• A bug pertaining to aircraft with an optical sight, where changing view would result in it not saving the previous angle of view, has been fixed.

Missions:

• In all “Operation” type aircraft missions, the spawn mechanism of light units closer to mission end has been changed. Early in the game, all vehicles will spawn on any one of the available zones and destroying one vehicle will result in a score reduction. Now light vehicles spawn in three different zones and for each vehicle group there is a separate available task. Destroying units in the groups will not reduce the mission scores. Destroying all of the vehicles in the group will complete the task and cause a reduction in mission scores for the enemy team. Completing all three tasks will cause the scores to be reduced by 30% at a maximum. 
• The amount of the score reduction may be adjusted in the future based on player feedback. 
• Fixed a bug related to the inability to destroy air defense guns on the ground ("Tunisia", "Mountain valley" and some others).

Sound:

• Sound environment in a ground vehicle and aircraft hangars has been improved.
• New  collision scraping sounds for ground vehicles have been added.

Aircraft model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

• Ki-49 (all modification) Machine guns models have been fixed.
• La-5 (all modification) - Fixed the shape and thickness of the pilot's headrest armour. 
• Lа-7 (all modification) - Fixed the shape and thickness of the pilot's headrest armour. 
• Lа-9 - Fixed the shape and thickness of the pilot's headrest armour. 
• F3F-2 - Damage Model has been updated.
• A-26C-45 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• XP-55 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• Me 410 (all modification) - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• Do 17Z-7 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• Ki-49 (all modification) - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• PBJ-1H - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• PBJ-1J - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• F9F-2 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• P-400 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• P-39K-1 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• Р-39N-0 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• Р-39Q-5 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• He 111 H-16 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• B7A2 - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• B-57B - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• TBD - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• B-25 (all modification) - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• B-17 (all modification) - Displayed armour has been fixed.
• Bf 109 G-6, G-10, G-14, K-4 - Fixed the damage model of internal modules.
• J2M (all variants) - Corrected the specification of the thickness of bulletproof glass.
• B-29 - Added the fuel tank in the center section. 
• Changed the damage model for the deflecting surface.
• Yak-3 - Ammunition capacity for the UBS machine guns has been changed from 250 to 150 according to the "Weapons of Yak-3 Operating Instructions" of the Office of the Military Air Force Red Army on May 12, 1945. Paragraph 1 - The armament of the Yak-3.
• Wyvern S.4 - Bomb drop for the 3 x 1000lb has been corrected.

Ground Vehicle visual model. damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

• For all ground vehicles of the 5th rank, the multiplicity of the optical sights has been set up in accordance with the real models. This change is intended to equalize the chances of tanks in a confrontation with vehicles equipped with ATGMs.
• Armour for KV-85 and IS-1 has been refined.
• Model for BT-7 1937 has been updated
• Additional armour module for the M46 has been added
• Mechanics of the "Rangefinding" command have been improved. From now the horizontal risk is static, meaning that the player enters the range by adjusting the angle (depression) of cannon elevation.
• Damage from 30-50mm caliber anti-aircraft guns from impact with different types of aircraft has been fixed (increased). 
• The bug, where in some cases after hitting a crew member, further spalling took place with the creation of secondary splinters which caused damage has been fixed.
• Fragments from shells incorrectly ignored modules such as engines and transmissions. This has now been fixed.
• Mechanic of replacement for crew members in the vehicles with open tops has been changed. Animation of a failure of crew member to appear when replaced has also been implemented.
• The chance of ricochet has been significantly reduced if the ammo caliber/armour thickness ratio is more than 30%.
• Unarmoured vehicles are now more likely to take damage after HE shell hit. 
• A bug where destroyed vehicles with their turrets gone were still shown as intact has been fixed.
• Spaced/Applique armour is now taken into consideration for ricochets off the main armour. 
• M60 - Armour Model of the vehicle and turret has been updated. Source: Ballistic protection analysis M60 series tanks, Auyer and Buda, 1972
• M60A1 - Armour Model of the vehicle and turret has been updated. Source: Ballistic protection analysis M60 series tanks, Auyer and Buda, 1972
• KV-220 - tank model has been fixed (gun mantlet) including the armour of the MG socket mount. The gun breech and crew can no longer be damaged through the gun barrel.
• Т-62 - tank model has been fixed  (projector drive animation), fixes in “x-ray” view and damage model (turret, gun barrel, turret ring, bottom of the tank, lower front plate).
• Т-54 1949 and 1951 - Damage Model has been fixed (chamfers at the sides)
• Centurion Mk.3 - Damage Model and X-ray fixes (ammo rack allocation has been fixed)
• Centurion Mk.10 - Damage Model and X-ray fixes (ammo rack allocation has been fixed)
• PT-76B - Damage Model and X-ray fixes (rear fuel tank has been added)
• Т-70 - model fixes (hatch cover), Damage Model fixes (reinforced areas have been added to the turret) 
• Т-26 mod. 1939 - Damage Model fixes (crew no longer “sticks out” of the armour) 
• KV-1 ZIS-5 - inconsistency of the sizes and shape of the Damage Model and visual model of the turret has been fixed.
• KV-1E and KV-1B - visual model has been fixed (a hole between the turret and the ring has been removed) )
• KV-2 1939 - optics allocation has been fixed.
• KV-1E - visual model has been fixed (wreckage from spare parts crate previously moved with the turret)
• Т-34 (all modifications with F-34 cannon) - protection for the recoil cylinder has been added. 
• Conqueror Mk.2 - X-ray view of the vertical aiming drive has been fixed. Damage model has been fixed - lower and upper front plates.  
• IS-2 1944 - add new parts in addition armor module
• Т-34E - visual model has been fixed - gun mantlet used to pass through crate. 
• Crusader AA Mk.I - absence of smoke from the exhaust stack has been fixed 
• Т-34-85E - Damage Model fixes, (part of the damage model of the external armour used to rotate along with the turret).
• Т-III and KV-1E - Winter “solid” camouflage was replaced by winter “grid” camouflage, which is available for some premium vehicles. 
• Crusader Mk.II - bugs in rear air vent’s Damage Model have been fixed.
• Crusader АА Mk.I - bugs in the tank’s bottom Damage Model have been fixed 
• Crusader AA Mk.II - bugs in the tank’s hull top armour have been fixed
• Caernarvon, Centurion Mk.3 / Mk.10, Chieftain Mk.3, Panzerjager, Marder III - X-ray view of the gunner has been fixed 
• RBT-5 - visual model has been fixed (texture behind the gun mantlet)
• SU-100Y - visual model fixes - driver’s hatch has been fixed. 
• Т-26-4 - visual model fixes (the rear wheel used to be misplaced) 
• Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. B - Armour has been added to the chassis and MG socket .
• Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf. A, Ausf. D - Placement of the ammunition allocation in ammo racks has been fixed.
• M103 - Armour of the weapon porthole has been fixed.
• Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. J - Armour for housing roof and turret has been fixed.
• Tiger II Ausf. B (H) - fixed spacing of gap (about 5mm) between the hull and turret.
• Ferdinand - The Damage Model for double armour and issues with the positions of the internal modules have been fixed.
• Jagdpanzer 38(t) - The issues with the positions of the internal modules have been fixed.
• Cruiser Tank Grant I -  armour of the vehicle has been fixed
• Leopard 1 - Armour for the gun mask has been fixed. Added anti-aircraft machine gun.
• Ostwind - Visual model has been fixed, two shells for holder has been added.
• M46 / M46 Tiger / M26 / M26E1 - Wrong geometrical sizes of the gunport has been fixed.
• Neubaufahrzeug - Damage Model of the crew, which was partly outside of the vehicle has been fixed.
• Strv 81 - Damage Model for launchers of ATGMs has been added.
• Sd.Kfz. 6/2 - The driver animation issue has been fixed.
• Cromwell I - The size of the shells in the Damage Model and X-Ray has been fixed.
• Tiger H1 and E - The visual size of the driver optics has been fixed.
• Achilles - Engine Damage Model has been updated.
• Firefly “Scorpion” - Wrong engine and radiator models in the X-Ray have been fixed.
• Post War German vehicles received tri-colour camouflage scheme of the CARC.
• М26 (all modification) - Added anti-aircraft machine gun.
• M6a1 — Added anti-aircraft machine gun

Flight model changes:

• When overheating (coolant leakage for example) occurs in the coolant or cylinder block, the temperature of the oil will also increase and with the oil overheating, the temperature of the coolant and cylinder block will further increase.
• Bug, where damage occurs in the first fuel tank, it was possible to lose all fuel, has been fixed. 
• The behavior of a damaged engine has been reworked. Now when the damage level increases the remaining operating time of the engine decreases smoothly and no more depends on airspeed.
• The incorrect connections between engine and the oil and water radiators which was installed on some aircraft has been fixed.
• Wing floats now will also disappear in the physical model when wings are lost and will be hidden in the wings when they are retractable.
• The propeller will break not only on contact with surface, but also after collision with objects.
• Aircraft damage occurring when due the exceeding the maximum safe Mach number now works the same as exceeding indicated speed, this means with delay and an indication on the HUD.
• The APC (aircraft performance characteristics) calculation in the card for turboprop aircraft has been fixed.
• Thrust will now be 0% on complete fuel exhaustion (when it is empty), the engine will not operate after that point.
• Ki-84 (all modifications) — The temperature modes for the engine have been refined.
• He 111 (all modifications) - Specified calculation for airflow on the horizontal tail surfaces, Inertia calculations updated and damped in all axes. Edited inertia calculations. Improved handling in all flight modes. A header tank for inverted flight has been added. 
• Lа-7 (all modifications) — compressor performance has been updated (altitude limits have been corrected) 
• Lа-9  Specified calculation for airflow on the horizontal tail surfaces, Inertia calculations updated and damped in all axes. Edited inertia calculations. Improved handling in all flight modes. A header tank for inverted flight has been added. More info in the datasheet
• SM-79 (all modifications) - FM and thermodynamics have been reworked. Impact of airflow and control stiffening have been added. Maximum speed and climb rate have been corrected. Separate fuel tanks enabled. Fuel consumption rate depending on different engine thrust rating has been updated. Also refueling has been reworked - main tanks are refueled first and then additional. Fuel in additional tanks is consumed first.   
• B-24 FM and thermodynamics have been reworked. Impact of airflow and control stiffening have been added. Maximum speed and climb rate have been corrected. Separate fuel tanks enabled. Fuel consumption rate depending on different engine thrust rating has been updated.
• Mosquito (all modifications) - FM and thermodynamics have been reworked. Impact of airflow and control stiffening have been added. Maximum speed and climb rate have been corrected. Separate fuel tanks enabled. Fuel consumption rate depending on different engine thrust rating has been updated. Detailed characteristics may be found  in the data sheets Mosquito Mk 6 Mosquito Mk 18
• F6F-3  manifold pressure values for 100% mode (52 inches) and WEP mode (56 inches) have been updated 
• MiG-15, MiG-15bis, MiG-17 and IL-28 -  engine operating temperatures have been updated. 
• P-63 (all modifications) - flap air resistance and brakes efficiency have been corrected.
• Stirling (all modifications) - unstable yaw in arcade battles in mouse aim control mode has been fixed 
• P-51D (all modifications) - The system of priority order of consumption in fuel tanks has been activated. Depending of the amount of fuel, the centre of gravity changes are more Pronounced. The fuselage resistance at high speeds (dynamic acceleration within the dive) has been recalculated. Thermodynamics have been verified.
• Fiat Cr.42 - Thermodynamics has been updated. Polar of the propeller and wing section has been corrected.
• Bf 110 С-4 - Bug, where by damage of the oil tanks and water radiators of the right engine caused damage on the left engine and vice versa has been fixed.
• TBF-1c - Engine characteristics have been refined, switch over point for the charger is now at 11,000 feet. The maximum speed at maximum altitude has been increased. Thermodynamics have been adjusted. Wing polar, tail and fuselage have been adjusted. Primary polar and parameters of flow bevel have been adjusted. Behavior of the aircraft in different flight modes has been corrected in accordance with the AFM (Aeroplane Flight Manual) and teaching materials. Combat and take-off flap position have been removed, maximum speed of the flaps position switching has been increased. Maximum dive speed has been increased (Vne=315 knots - AFM). Top speed of the chassis releasing - 200 knots, Top speed of the landing flaps releasing - knots. Brake force has been increased, so it is possible to stay on the place with brakes by full engine power. The system of separate fuel filling and consumption of fuel from tanks has been switched on. Amount of fuel on board and fight loading (bombs and ammo) affect more the centering of the plane. Pressure in the struts, for better fit the deck, has been decreased.
• Su-6 — Has been initially configured according to the data sheet.
• Ki-87 – Has been initially configured according to the data sheet.
• J1N1 – Has been initially configured according to the data sheet.
• P1Y1 – Has been initially configured according to the data sheet.
• BV 238 V1 - Has been initially configured according to the data sheet.
• Brigand B.1 - Has been initially configured according to the data sheet.
• Hudson Mk.V - Has been initially configured according to the data sheet.
• F9F-8 - Has been initially configured according to the data sheet.

.com reported bugs fixes:

• Autopurchase of modules only works on one tank in lineup
• Joystick assignments gets messed up
• Unwanted control change (SAITEK X-55 RHINO)
• KV-1S damage pictogram
• Empty "next research" button when finishing with 0 XP left
• [Tank Sim] Gun sights compensate for uneven terrain
• Can't load default ammo type for all of my planes
• War thunder ui center
• GAZ DShK After Gunner Is Disabled His Head Is Glitched

.ru reported bugs fixes:

• G-suit mechanics have been fixed for all aircraft.
• Vehicle price is now shown correctly after activating personal discount.
• Incorrect values on specific modification bonuses for Yak-9-T have been fixed.
• Absence of the ATGM launch sound in test drive has been fixed.
• Vehicles do not lose speed anymore whilst the player is checking the statistics window.
• T-34-85E “stripe” decal has been fixed.

Economy and research:

• Flakpanzer I, ZSU-57-2 -  Spawn point requirement in RB has been increased. 
• For 85mm USSR cannons with ballistic D-5T/ZiS-53 - the research order for these shells has been changed. The first standard shell (for free) is now BR-365K, and shell BR-365A is now researchable.
• ZiS-30 - Vehicle rank has been changed. The cost of purchasing the vehicle has changed from 2,100 to 10,000 lions. Changed the number of research points required to research the vehicle from 4,000 to 7,900 RP. Crew training price changed from 600 to 3,000.
• PzKpfw IV Ausf F - Vehicle rank has been changed. The cost of purchasing the vehicle has changed from 5,900 to 10,000 lions. Changed the number of research points required to research the vehicle from 4,000 to 7,900 RP. Crew training price changed from 1,800 to 3,000.
• M15 Combination Gun Motor Carriage - Vehicle rank has been changed. The cost of purchasing the vehicle has changed from 55,000 to 77,000 lions. Changed the number of research points required to research the vehicle from 14,000 to 18,000 RP. Crew training price changed from 16000 to 22,000.
• ZIS-12 94KM - Vehicle rank has been changed. The cost of purchasing the vehicle has changed from 38,000 to 77,000 lions. Changed the number of research points required to research the vehicle from 11,000 to 22,000 RP. Crew training price changed from 11,000 to 22,000.
• P-47N-15 - The cost of purchasing the aircraft has changed from 190,000 to 230,000 lions. Changed the number of research points required to research the aircraft from 50,000 to 70,000 RP. Crew training price changed from 55,000 to 65,000. Repair cost has also been changed.
• P-38L-LO - The cost of purchasing the aircraft has changed from 310,000 to 190,000 lions. Changed the number of research points required for the research aircraft from 85,000 to 50,000 RP. Crew training price changed from 90,000 to 55,000. Repair cost has also been changed.
• P-38J-15 - The cost of purchasing the aircraft has changed from 300,000 to 190,000 lions. Changed the number of research points required to research the aircraft from 80,000 to 50,000. Crew training price changed from 87,000 to 55,000. Repair cost has also been changed.
• Ki-84 ko - “Jungle” Camouflage has been removed from sale.
• Ki-49-1 - Added 20mm gun turret modification research..
• SM.79 1936 - Removed engine injection modification.
• I-153 M-62, I-153 M-62 Zhukovsky - Removed bomb load option 2x100 kg. according to "Airplane-153 with an engine M-62. Technical description. Book 1. Oborongiz - TsAGI, Moscow 1940 ".

Other:

• Fixed German and French keyboard layouts on the “help by clicking F1” display.
• Aircraft travelling at high speeds will now move correctly when being viewed in the replay mode.
• A bug where AI in ‘Enduring Confrontation’ battles would not start from the airfield, has been fixed.
• After the activation of a personal discount, the price of the vehicle in the research tab will now be correctly reduced according to the discount.
• Improvements have been made to the squadron search window.
• FPS drops in the hangar after vehicle unlocks have been fixed.
• Artillery control with joysticks has been improved.
• New hangar has been added. Pier for flying boats and other naval vehicles..
• Bug where after extinguishing a fire the ground vehicle wouldn't move has been fixed.
• Multiple enhancements to virtual reality headsets. 
• Bugs where the sounds of other players being hit were not being played has been fixed.
• Test flight for naval piston-engine aircraft will now start from an aircraft carrier.

The current provided patchnotes reflect the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates and fixes may be not listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving all the time and certain fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.