Gaijin Entertainment announces that the “Air Superiority” update is already available for the online military action game War Thunder. The famous JAS39 Gripen, Mirage 4000, Su-27 and F-15 aircraft will compete for the dominance in the skies, while ground warfare will see the latest modern tanks and prototypes like the Leopard 2A7V, VT-4A1, Challenger 3, T-90M, M1A2 SEP V2 TUSK II and Strv 122B+ machines. There are dozens of other interesting new vehicles, including the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci, as well as the new Volcano Valley map for air battles, inspired by the landscapes of Kamchatka peninsula. Fire effects for vehicles and buildings have also been redesigned and improved.
While players might rush to see the F-15 and Su-27 (as well as its Chinese counterpart, the J-11) first, two other fourth-generation fighters will give them serious competition in the skies of War Thunder.
The JAS39 Gripen is Sweden's latest multi-role fighter, which is also in service in South Africa (therefore it will appear in the South African branch in the UK tree), Brazil, Thailand, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Mirage 4000 is a prototype of a French twin-engine fighter that was developed in parallel with the Mirage 2000, but did not go into production due to budget restrictions. Two SNECMA M53-P2 engines are capable of accelerating the aircraft to Mach 2.2, the aerodynamic design provides excellent controllability throughout the entire speed range, and the large payload will allow the players to take the optimal range of missiles and bombs into battle.
The update also adds a new, eighth rank of armored vehicles, in which the M1A2 SEP2 and T-90M will compete with the German Leopard 2A7V with reinforced front hull armor, as well as the Challenger 3, a prototype of a new British tank, the production of which will start in 2024. This is a development of the Challenger 2 already familiar to players, but with a new L/55 A1 smoothbore gun, a more powerful engine, a latest generation thermal imager, and an radiation warning system.
You can read more about what's new in the update on the game's official website.