Shipboard reconnaissance aircraft

Shipboard reconnaissance aircraft were introduced into War Thunder in Update "Winged Lions" as an additional vehicle available for naval units.

Description

While hydroplanes were present in War Thunder prior to Update "Winged Lions", all were standalone aircraft present in the tech tree that could be piloted in air battles by the player. Shipboard reconnaissance aircraft allows large bluewater ships to utilize their plane catapults to send scout planes to perform recon of an area, land on capture zones, and pester enemy ships with their onboard weaponry.

A list of available ship-launched reconnaissance aircraft can be found in the below table:

Ship-launched reconnaissance aircraft
USA	O3U-1 · OS2U-1* · SOC-1
Germany	Ar 196 A-3*
USSR	KOR-1
Britain	Osprey Mk IV · Walrus Mk.I
Japan	E7K2 · E8N2 · E13A1 · F1M2*
Italy	Ro.43
France	GL.832HY · Loire 130С
	*Available standalone in tech tree

Uses

Spotting

E7K2 is used for spotting incoming torpedoes on the Midway map

This is the first thing you will notice after launching the plane. Enemy ships through most of the map will be visible from the airplane, allowing you much greater situational awareness. This does not affect spotting of the ship itself. if you switch back to it, but from the aiplane, you still will know the enemy location. In the Arcade mode, even if they are hidden behind the terrain.

Other than spotting ships, one can also spot torpedoes - these leave a very visible trail in the water, an airplane at altitude can spot them from kilometers away, allowing the mothership to easily avoid them without affecting aim.

Capturing point

One of the primary use cases for the shipborne hydroplane is taking the cap points. It's particularly useful on large maps in high ranks, where the time is taken for even the quickest bluewater ships to arrive at the cap counts in long minutes. Also later, throughout the game, if there's an enemy cap point without hostile ships in proximity, it's worth attempting capping with the plane as well.

For a successful capping approach the cap at the maximum speed, then reduce the throttle to zero and quickly bleed velocity through sharp turns and/or using the rudder (default Q/E on PC) down to IAS of 200 km/h or less, while being careful to avoid a stall. Then land like you land a regular airplane. If you would like to keep a constant speed on the water in order to avoid getting hit, set your throttle to about 55% and adjust from there on.

Smoke screen

Approach towards the edge of the cap, start smoking, and in the cap zone make a turn towards the middle, covering yourself with ample of smoke

One of the most common uses of the hydroplane is to deploy a smoke screen. Unlike the Smokescreen modification on ships, airplanes can deploy the screen directly between you and the enemy, allowing for a more efficient cover and more time to escape. While escaping from a particularly persistent enemy, a hydroplane can deploy a wall of smoke during the time that the smoke on the ship is still reloading, allowing for a constant cover, switching back a forth between smoke from the ship and smoke from the airplane.

Finally, the hydroplane itself can benefit from the smoke screen. Approach the cap point towards its edge and begin dropping smoke as you're about to start capturing, then make a turn towards the center of the cap, hiding yourself behind the smoke.

Offense and Defence

Hydroplanes equipped with bombs can directly engage enemy ships to defend your bluewater ship. While this is a very risky strategy, likely a suicidal attempt that usually ends without a success, it can pay off with some luck and maneuvering. Hydroplanes suffer from being extremely fragile - often a single hit from a 20mm can be enough to take them down. But even two small bombs dropped on an ammo rack of an enemy destroyers can turn the tide. Using mountains, icebergs, or other hard cover is highly recommended, as below 500 meters it becomes tricky to survive without a hit even for the most skilled pilots.

Alternatively, and often more successfully, hydroplanes can be used to stop enemy hydroplanes, bombers, or even fighters. Ar 196 A-3 is a particularly good fit for that, as its 20 mm cannons can deal damage quickly and efficiently. Lower calibre guns require more time to score the kills, making it riskier when the enemy has any defensive armament. Finally: the airplane itself can be used as a weapon, kamikazeing into the enemy plane.

Rear-facing defensive armament is extremely unreliable against hostile airplanes, but it still can be used against unsuspecting enemy hydroplanes, in particular when aimed manually.

Reloading

This is relevant only for the Realistic Battles. In this mode, airplanes will not reload their bombs or guns in-flight like they do in the arcade. There is no way of landing back on the ship or at the airport either. This leaves only two options for reloading: Either landing on a naval landing strip - which can be found by opening the map (default M on a PC) - or by landing on a capture point, which will reload ammunition, much like it does for tanks in the ground battles.

Comparison

Airplane		Max speed		Turn time (s)	Offensive armament			Defensive armament			Suspended armament
		km/h	at altitude (m)		type	count	fire rate	type	count	fire rate	type	count	TNT equivalent (kg)
	OS2U-1	296	1 700	33	7.62 mm Browning	1	1000	7.62 mm Browning	1	1000	AN-M30A1 (100 lb)	2	24.5
	SOC-1	296	1 700	33	7.62 mm Browning	1	1000	7.62 mm Browning	1	1000	AN-M30A1 (100 lb)	2	24.5
	Ar 196 A-3	320	2 000	21	20 mm MG FF	2	520	7.92 mm MG 15	1	1000	SC50JA (50 kg)	2	25
					7.92 mm MG 17	1	1200
	KOR-1	412	4 000	17	7.62 mm ShKAS	2	1800	7.62 mm ShKAS	1	1800	FAB-100sv (100 kg)	2	36.02
	Osprey Mk IV	412	4 000	17	7.7 mm Vickers E	1	900	7.7 mm Lewis	1	551
	Walrus Mk.I	412	4 000	17				7.7 mm Lewis	2	551	G.P. Mk.IV (250 lb)	4	30.7
	E7K2	412	4 000	17				7.7 mm Type 92	2	600	Navy Type 97 Number 6 (60 kg)	4	25,3
	E8N2	412	4 000	17	7.7 mm Type 97	1	900	7.7 mm Type 92	1	600	Navy Type 97 Number 6 (60 kg)	4	25,3
	Aichi E13A1	412	4 000	17				7.7 mm Type 97	1	900	Navy Type 97 Number 6 (60 kg)	4	25,3
	Ro.43	412	4 000	17	7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT	2	900	7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT	1	900

See also

• Category:Hydroplanes
• Drones - Another class of aircraft launched from a different vehicle.

External links

• [Development] The Battlecruiser Scharnhorst and shipboard reconnaissance aircraft