Update "Ixwa Strike"

Update "Ixwa Strike" (changelog) was introduced on 10 March 2021. This update is notable for the introduction of the South African branch of the British tree and variable swept-wing aircraft.

Though the update numbering has been dropped since Update "Starfighters", the game version is still present in-game to indicate the update as 2.5

New vehicles

Aircraft

USA

• F8U-2

Germany

• Me 262 A-1a/Jabo

USSR

• Su-9
• Su-11 (premium)
• Su-17M2

Britain

• Attacker FB. 2 (premium)

Japan

• A6M5 Hei

China

• F-5A

France

• Mirage IIIE

Sweden

• Fokker D.XXI (premium)

Ground vehicles

USA

• M3A3 Bradley

Germany

• JaPz.K A2
• Leopard 2 PL (Squadron vehicle)

USSR

• BT-7M
• T-28 (1938)

Britain

• SARC MkVI (2pdr)
• SARC MkVI (6pdr)
• Eland 90 Mk.7
• Ratel 20
• Ratel 90
• ZT3A2
• TTD
• ZA-35
• Rooikat MTTD
• Olifant Mk.1A
• Olifant Mk.2

Japan

• Hiro-Sha

China

• PTL02

Italy

• Pz.III N
• Pz.IV G (premium)
• StuG III G

France

• SK-105A2
• MARS 15

Sweden

• Ikv 91-105

Naval fleet

Germany

• SMS Kaiser

USSR

• Pr.50 "Rosomacha" (premium)

Britain

• Whitby class (F-77)

Japan

• IJN Isuzu

Italy

• Etna

Helicopters

Britain

• Wasp HAS.Mk.1 — detailed cockpit has been added

New locations and missions

• Location for the combined battle "Seversk-13" has been added.

Location and mission updates

• In some missions airfields models have been replaced with identical ones but with larger substrate areas (in order to hide the hill effect when flying up to an airfield).
• The depth in most locations has been increased or reduced to historical values for naval gameplay.
• Tank hulls that can not be moved have been visually changed so they can not be confused with a recently destroyed vehicle that can be moved.

Enduring Confrontation

• A bug where the same ground battle might begin in several squares (some units spawned in one square, some in another) has been fixed.
• A bug where several battles might happen at the same time (usually two opposite battles) in the same quadrant has been fixed.
• AI bombers will now be spawned at different altitudes depending on the battle rank.
• Enduring Confrontation Khalkhin-Gol - The positions of some airfields have been changed. Another potential position of a base for bombing has been added.
• A bug where in some missions some airfields were without air defense coverage has been fixed.
• A bug where a player that re-joined the game session increased the number of victory points for their team has been fixed.
• A bug where in the Enduring Confrontation mission in the location Tunisia, the airfields were too close to the centre of the map so that at higher ranks, the time of approach to the front line from distant airfields was too short.
• The respawn time of anti-aircraft guns on airfields has been decreased (previously it could take several minutes after the mission start).
• A situation where the ground convoys stopped appearing has been fixed.
• The maximum number of simultaneously active convoys has been increased from one to three.
• Some bugs with the appearance of convoys which led to the occasional jamming or severe stretching of the column have been fixed. The convoy vehicles should now move more evenly.
• The convoy destruction task and highlighting of convoy vehicles in AB mode now occur when all convoy vehicles have spawned.

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

• The parameters of the overheating of automatic cannons on ground vehicles have been revised and refined. Automatic cannons fed through magazines or limited capacity (e.g. 4-20 rounds) will now overheat more slowly. Automatic cannons with belt feed will now overheat faster during continuous firing.
• Damage resistance of track has been reduced. Now the tank's track should be "torn" by a single hit of the shell of 75 mm calibre and above.
• The material thickness of gun barrels for cannons of the calibre 40 mm and more has been increased:
  • Calibre 40 — 70 mm: 15 → 20
  • Calibre 75 — 90 mm: 20 → 30
  • Calibre 100 — 130 mm: 25 → 35
  • Calibre 150 — 183 mm: 30 → 40
• Following vehicles have received new volumetric tracks:
  • Italy: M13/40 (I, II, III), M11/39, M41 75/18, M41 75/32, M43 75/34, M43 105/25, M41M 90/53, M43 75/46, M42 75/34, M14/41 47/40, Semovente M42 Contraereo, Pz.III N, Pz.IV G, StuG III G, M60A1 "D.C.Ariete".
  • Germany: Dicker Max, Nashorn, Brummbär, Pz.IV H, Pz.IV J, Pz.IV G, Pz.IV E, Pz.IV F, Pz.IV F2, Jagdpanzer IV, Panzer IV/70(V), Panzer IV/70(A), Pz.Bef.Wg.IV J, Wirbelwind, Ostwind, Ostwind II, Kugelblitz, StuH 42 G, StuG III F, StuG III G, Pz.III J, Pz.III J1, Pz.III L, Pz.III M, M48A2 C, M48A2 G A2, M48 Super.
  • USSR: T-III, T-54 47, T-54 49, T-54 51, T-62, T-62-М1, IT-1, SU-122-54, ZSU-57-2, Т-72А, Т-72B, Т-72B (1989), Т-72АВ (TURMS-T).
  • Britain: Cromwell I, Cromwell V, Cromwell V (RP-3), Archer, Valentine XI, Valentine IX, Centurion Mk.1, Centurion Mk.3, Centurion Mk.10, Centurion Action X, Centurion Mk.5 AVRE, Centurion Mk.5 RAAC, Olifant Mk1A, Olifant Mk2.
  • USA: M48A1, T54E1, M60, M60 AMBT, M60A2, M60A1(AOS), M60A1 RISE (P), M103, M60A3 TTS
  • China: M48A1, M60A3 TTS.
  • France: AMX-30, AMX-30B2, AMX-32, AMX-30 DCA, AMX-30 ACRA, Roland 1.
  • Sweden: Strv 81, Strv 101.
• M3A3 (China, France, Italy) - Smoke grenade launcher modification has been added.
• Merkava Mk.1, Merkava Mk.2b - ESS modification has been added.
• Type 90, Type 90B - Fire rate has been changed from 12 to 15 shots per minute. BR in all game modes has been changed from 10.3 to 10.7
• 105mm M774 - The penetrator length has been corrected (changed from 347 to 375 mm) and the penetration has been recalculated accordingly.

Aircraft and helicopter model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

• UH-1C — Display of the suspended 40mm grenade launcher when mounting blocks with FFAR missiles has been fixed.
• A-129 International — Cockpit armour material has been fixed.
• F6F-5 — Separate bomb drop for bombs of the calibre 1000 pounds has been added.
• F4U-7 — Separate bomb drop for bombs of the calibre 1000 pounds has been added.
• Brigand B 1 — Bomb weaponry options have been extended.
• SA.342M Gazelle — A bug with display of the suspended pods in one of the presets of the weaponry menu has been fixed.
• A32A — Ballistic calculator has been added.
• SBD-3 — armour elements have been fixed.
• A-26B-10 — armour elements and tear-offs damage have been fixed.
• For some aircraft, the wing tear at the attachment points of suspended weaponry has been corrected to exclude the appearance of "floating" suspended armament after a tear has taken place on a damaged aircraft.
• The erroneous displaying of the Gsh-23 cannon in some cases has been fixed for the suspended UPK-23-250 cannon pod.
• A-7D — New AGM-65A missiles of the "Air-to-Surface" class have been added. HUD (head-up-display) and radar warning system have been added to the cockpit.
• AV-8A, AV-8C, Harrier GR.1, Harrier GR.3, Buccaneer S.2, F-4E Phantom II, F-4EJ Phantom II, Phantom FGR.2, Phantom FG.1, F-104G, F-104J, F-104S — HUD (head-up display) has been added.
• Z.1007 bis series 3/5 — armour has been added.
• F-104J — Number of AIM-9 missiles has been increased to 4. AIM-9P missiles have been added.
• Ka-52 — on-board defense system L-370 "Vitebsk" ("President-s") with incoherent suppression station has been added.
• I-16 Chung 28, I-16 type 5 — The mark of the Republic of China has been added to the localization.
• F-104G, F-104S — Ballistic calculator has been added.
• Jaguar GR.1 — bomb ballistic calculator has been added (CCRP).
• Х-23М missile - Control mode has been changed to manual (by three points) for implementation of the radio-command line guidance system "Delta-NG".
• For the R-3R, R-3S, PL-2 missiles - Overload limit on the launch has been increased to 4G.
• AGM-71 TOW / AGM-71 TOW 2 — in-game designation has been changed: AGM-71 TOW changed to AGM-71 ITOW. Characteristics, explosive weight have been changed. Max distance of the AGM-71 ITOW has been increased to 3750m.
• Chaff has been added for all aircraft featuring flares. 'Flares/chaff' ratio option has been added, as well as options 'only flares' or 'only chaff'.
• A click of the target lock button activates the caging of the IR seeker for the target seeker in homing mode (without a signal from radar). A second click deactivates the seeker.
• AIM-7 semi-active radar seeker missiles have been reconfigured for more realistic behavior. The seeker operates more poorly when locking targets flying against the background of the earth across the direction of the missile. The range of locking tail-on targets at low and medium altitudes has also been reduced.
• A-7D — Battle rating in RB game mode has been changed from 9.7 to 10.0.

Flight Model changes:

• Saab Sk.60b - bug has been fixed with incorrect calculation of the parasitic drag for gun pods. Thrust reverse has been added.
• SB2U-2/3, Wirraway, IAR-81c, Ki-32, - flight model has been updated. Engine operating modes have been clarified. The distribution of fuel across the tanks has been corrected. Polars of the wings, fuselage and propeller blades have been recalculated and updated. Behavior of the aircraft during the retraction of flaps has been clarified. Improved aircraft behavior when diving at high angles.
• CW-21 — nosing down during aggressive braking has been reduced. Stabilizer air flow has been improved, a more correct stall at low speeds has been introduced. Climb rate has been slightly reduced.
• Ta 152H1 — nosing down during aggressive braking has been reduced. Stabilizer air flow has been improved, more correct stall at low speeds has been introduced.
• Do 335 (all modifications) — all control links have been replaced from cable to tubular, giving more precise and responsive control. The wave drag of the wing profile for a thinner profile has been improved, resulting in better dynamics at high speed. Mechanization efficiency has been improved by enabling flaperons. Different inertia for the propeller group for the front and rear motors have been adjusted.
• Fw 190 (all modifications) - Probability of 'nodding' during aggressive braking has been reduced.
• Hurricane (all modifications) - A bug leading to the wrong speed for the destruction of the flaps (landing position is permissible at speeds not exceeding over 200 km/h or 120 mph) has been fixed.
• P-61 (all modifications) - A bug that makes it possible to fire from offensive weaponry when the landing gear is released has been fixed.
• F-104 (all modifications) — to improve the landing properties of the aircraft, boundary layer control has been added with full release of flaps and a running engine.
• A-7D — an issue causing incorrect additional weight and drag data after the GAU-13/a gun pods installation (weight and parasitic drag have been improved).

Naval fleet model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

Naval weaponry:

• AI gunners will no longer attempt to hit targets they cannot damage. For example, gunners of 37mm, 40mm, and 76mm guns won't shoot battleships.
• 100mm/70 SM-5-1 turret - explosives' type and weight has been corrected for F-55 and OF-55 rounds.
• 356mm/45 gun 41 Year Type (IJN Hyuga) - weight, type and velocity of the AP round have been corrected. Stock HE shell has been changed to SAP round.
• USS North Dakota (BB-29) - stock Mk.17 AP round has been changed to HE shell Mk.17. New AP shell Mk.7 is now available for research.
• SMS Helgoland - SAP shell has been added to the 1st level of research. AP round moved to the 2nd, and requires research again. RP and SL spent on this round has been refunded.
• Traverse speed of the 102mm/45 gun Mark XVI and 102mm fast firing Mark V gun on British naval vessels has been corrected according to the turret they are mounted in.
• 135mm/45 gun O.T.O. Mod. 1938 -rate of fire has been increased to 7.5 rpm.
• 100 mm naval cannon Minisini — Fire rate has been lowered to 12 shots per minute.
• Leipzig, Nurnberg, Koln, Chapayev, Sverdlov, Zheleznyakov, Krasny Kavkaz - Ready-use ammo have been removed for the main calibre cannons. Fire rate is now constant.
• IJN Suzuya, IJN Mikuma, IJN Mogami, IJN Isudzu — Ready-use ammo for the 127 mm/40 cannon of Type 89 have been added. Fire rate of the cannons for these shells has been changed to 14 shots per minute.

Naval characteristics, physics and damage model:

• The damage model on ammo stowage has been changed for battleships, cruisers and destroyers. Fire and detonation of the magazines are fatal to the ship. The explosion and detonation of the shell rooms do not lead to the complete disabling of the ship, but lead to severe destruction around the stowage area, hull breaches and fires.
• Some types of fires have been reworked for battleships and cruisers - fires in main calibre turrets, ammo elevators and some internal rooms have become more dangerous. Fire from turret fighting compartment may go down inside barbettes, ignite the elevator and go to ammo stowage. Shell stowages are more durable against the fire than magazines, and may be affected by fire for longer. Both shell and magazines may explode, if fire isn't extinguished. If fire destroys the stowage, it will inevitably explode.
• Damage model for AP, SAP, and base fuze HE shells has been corrected:
  • Kinetic damage parameters have been increased in accordance to their energy
  • Spread sectors, damage and armour piercing capabilities of shell fragments have been fixed. Main damage comes in focused cones in the direction of the projectile and to the sides of it. The weakest fragments were left in the bottom section
  • The fuze arming and delay parameters have been changed so that, depending on the calibre and class of the ship being fired at, the shells are armed at certain modules and thicknesses. The delays of the fuzes are selected so that the shell explodes closer to the middle of the ship's beam (at its average values, entry angles, etc.)
  • For many shells, the parameters of the loss of speed in flight, air resistance and flight time have been clarified, which led to some changes in armour penetration.
• The distances of shells under water have been corrected. Once in the water the shell can easily exceed the distance equal to about 80-100 of its calibre, after which it will lose all killing power.
• The damage model of smoke funnels has been fixed - they are harder to disable now: from 2-3 hits by AP shells of their class, and from 1-2 HE shells.The drop in the maximum ship speed when smoke funnels are damaged or destroyed has been reduced
• USS Atlanta (CL-51) - hull and deck armouring has been fixed. Overhead anti-splinter armour plates are now located at the sides
• MBK pr.186, MBK pr.186 (МK 85), MBK-161 (1943) MBK-161 (1944) - the location of the crew in the compartments and artillery mounts has been fixed to avoid the situation with the "last survivor", when all compartments are destroyed, but boat stays afloat.
• USS Baltimore (CA-68) - the number of the crew has been increased to 1,560. The thicknesses and shapes of the armour belts have been corrected, the armour of the battle bridge, the armour of the hull and the upper deck have been added. Armour elevators for the main calibre cannons have been fixed. A fuel tank has been added in the area of ​​the stern ammo stowages. The armour classification of internal armour belts has been changed from external to internal.
• USS New Orleans (CA-32) - the number of the crew has been increased to 1,183. The shape and thickness of the armour belts, ammo stowages protection, armoured decks have been fixed. Added anti-splinter armour on the sides. armour shields for 20mm Oerlikons have been added. armour materials have been fixed.
• USS Northampton (CA-26) - the number of the crew has been increased to 872.
• USS Pensacola (CA-24) - the number of the crew has been increased to 923.
• USS Portland (CA-33) - the number of the crew has been increased to 1,033.
• IJN Ikoma - Ship's armour and main calibre cannons have been fixed, speed increased to 21.91 kn. The number of the crew has been reduced to 820.
• IJN Shimakaze — internal modules have been totally reworked, in accordance to material from the Yasukuni Shrine Kaiko library.
• Class J (leader), Class K (F37), Class N (G25), Chapaev, Zheleznyakov — list in sharp turns has been reduced.
• HMS Hawkins (D86) — issue with self-destroying torpedo launchers has been solved.
• Leipzig, Nürnberg, Admiral Hipper, Admiral Graf Spee, Krasny Kavkaz, Chapaev, Sverdlov — Splits between armour elements have been removed.
• IJN Settsu — Armouring has been fixed. Thickness of the bow and stern armour belts, the lower part of the main armour belt, sides of the side turrets, upper part of the barbette of the bow and stern turrets, roofs of armoured cabins, armoured deck in the stern area have been improved.
• IJN Tone — Armouring has been fixed. The shape of the armour of the steering system, the thickness of the side armour of the ammo magazines, the shape of the armoured bulkhead have been changed.
• Pola — Targeting issue of the 13.2 mm MGs has been fixed.
• Class J (leader) — armour shields for the 20 mm cannons at the stern have been added.
• Kirov — A bug with lack of the sub-calibre magazine has been fixed.
• SMS Helgoland — A bug with the destruction of the ammunition magazine when not hit and no destruction when hit been fixed.

Naval Visual models and visual parts:

• IJN Mikuma — A cable support strut has been added to the third main calibre turret.
• IJN Mikuma, IJN Mogami, IJN Suzuya — The display of linoleum baseboard slats on the deck has been fixed.
• IJN Kako — The animation of the flag has been fixed. Wrong location of some objects on the deck of the destroyed ship model has been fixed.
• Pola — Incorrect ship draft in hangar has been fixed.
• R-boot R-130 — Mines, which were displayed in the X-Ray view in the stock ship's state have been hidden.
• MPK Pr.12412 — The position of torpedo tubes by displaying the ship at a distance has been fixed.
• Porter (DD-356) — Missing deck on superstructures has been fixed.
• Fairmile D (697) — Issues with the displaying of the shell bag of the Oerlikon autocannon have been fixed.
• BMO — Problem with superstructure disappearing at long range has been fixed.
• MPK Pr.12412 — Disappearing of the RGB 12 rocket bomb models on the ship has been fixed.
• IJN Settsu — Incorrect location of torpedo tubes has been corrected.
• MS-53 — Position of aft superstructure on the undamaged model has been corrected.
• IJN Yuudachi — Incorrect displaying of the superstructure has been fixed.
• Freccia P-493 — Regia Marina flag has been replaced with the postwar Marina Militare flag.
• Garland (H37) — Ship's emblem and missing cranes have been added. Markings of the removed stern turret on the deck have been added. The shield from the 76 mm cannon has been removed.
• Turbine — Ship's name on life rings has been fixed.
• Bartolomeo Colleoni, Trento, Raimondo Montecuccoli, Zara, Pola — The dial from 100 mm cannons has been removed.
• SMS Von der Tann — Extraction animation of shells at the stern turret has been added.
• Type 1939 (T31) — Maximum elevation angle of the main cailbre turret has been changed from 30° to 70°.
• HMS Southampton — The form of the main calibre turrets has been fixed.
• USS Helena (CL-50) — Radar model has been fixed.
• IJN Hyuga — Incorrect layout of torpedo tubes has been fixed.
• Class J (leader) — The ready-use ammo for the aft turret, displayed in the X-Ray view, has been moved to the boxes.
• HBM Tiger II — Location of the aft ammunition has been fixed.

Other:

• Clemson (DD-213) - Multiple respawns similar to in reserve vessels has been fixed.

Economy and research

• The aircraft class "Attacker" has been renamed to "Strike Aircraft" and extended with the addition of a large number of vehicles. The definition of "attacker" was mainly used by the Soviet and American aircraft construction schools but within the game the vehicles of these class get a number of advantages in comparison to strike fighters (increased rewards for destroying ground and surface targets; reduced reloading time of the suspended weaponry in AB; separated from fighters respawn scores multiplier in ground RB) even if it is close to them in nature. List of aircraft moved to the "Strike Aircraft" class due to their combined characteristics, armament and primary target type in combat:
  • USA: FJ-4B, AV-8C, FJ-4B VMF-232, AV-8A, F3D-1, F-84B-26, F-84G-21-RE, F-84F.
  • Germany: Bf 110 C-6, Bf 110 C-7, Bf 110 F-2, Bf 110 G-2, Bf 110 G-4, Me 410 A-1, Me 410 B-1, Me 410 B-6/R3, Do 335 A-0, Me 410 A-1/U4, Me 410 B-2/U4, Do 335 A-1, Me 262 A-1/U4, Me 262 A-1a/U1, He 219 A-7, Fw 190 F-8, F-84F (Germany).
  • USSR: Pe-3 (e), Pe-3, Pe-3bis, TIS MA, Yak-38, Yak-38M, Su-7B, Su-7BKL.
  • Britain: Beaufighter Mk.VIc, Beaufighter Mk.X, Mosquito FB.Mk.VI, Mosquito FB.Mk.XVIII, Beaufighter Mk.21, Harrier GR.3, Harrier GR.1, Firecrest, Tempest Mk.V (Vickers P), Hurricane Mk.IV, Wyvern S.4, Firefly F.Mk.I, Firefly FR.Mk.V, Firebrand TF.Mk.IV, Jaguar GR.1.
  • Japan: Ki-109.
  • China: Mosquito FB.Mk.26, Q-5 early, Q-5A, F-84G-21-RE (China).
  • Italy: Ro.57 Quadriarma, Bf 110 G-4 (Hungary), F-84F (Italy), F-84G-21-RE (Italy).
  • France: F-84F (France), F-84G-26-RE (France), F-84F (Israel), Etendard IVM, Jaguar A.
  • Sweden: A32A.
• In case to avoid confusion the "Strike Fighter" type has been removed from "Fighter" class.
• Rooikat Mk.1D — Has been moved to the sub tree of South Africa.
• T55E1 - BR has been lowered from 4.7 to 4.3
• Sd.Kfz.234/4 - BR has been raised from 3.0 to 3.7. Rank changed from II to III.
• AMX-13 (HOT) — BR has been lowered from 8.3 to 8.0 in all gaming modes.
• RakJPz 2 (HOT) — BR has been lowered from 8.3 to 8.0 in all gaming modes.
• PG 02 — Is now available for purchase for Golden Eagles.
• Sparviero — Is now available for purchase for Golden Eagles.
• The cost of research, purchase, crew training and other related parameters for vehicles has change (Open the full table)

Ground forces tech tree changes:

• USA:
  • T14 — moved to rank III. Price changed: 1600GE → 1750GE
• Germany:
  • Panzerjäger I and 15cm sIG 33 B Sfl — switched places.
  • Panther G and Panther F — switched places.
• USSR:
  • SU-122 and ZiS-30 — switched places.
  • T-54 (1949) — moved to position before the T-54 (1947) / T-54 (1951) group.
  • YaG-10 (29-K) — moved to rank II after SU-57.
• Japan:
  • Ho-Ri Production and Type 75 SPH — switched places.
• China
  • M18 and ISU-152 — switched places.
• Britain:
  • Challenger and Comet I — switched places.
  • Swingfire — moved to rank V.
• Italy:
  • OTOMATIC — moved to rank VII after SIDAM 25 (Mistral).
  • 105/25 M43 and 75/34 M43 — moved to rank II.
• France
  • CCKW 353 AA — moved to rank II.

Aviation tech tree changes:

• USA:
  • P-47N-15 — moved to position after the P-51D-5 / P-51D-30 group.
  • F6F-5 — moved to rank III after F4U-1D and combined into group with F6F-5N.
• Germany:
  • Ju 87 G-1 / Ju 87 G-2 group — moved to position before Ju 87 D-3 / Ju 87 D-5 group.
  • * Do 217 N-1 / Do 217 N-2 group — moved to rank II.
  • Bf 110 G-2 / Bf 110 G-4 group — moved to rank III.
  • Fw 190 A-4 — moved to rank III.
  • Fw 190 A-5 — grouped: Fw 190 A-5/U2 / Fw 190 A-5 / Fw 190 A-5.
• USSR:
  • Yak-9K and Yak-9T — switched places.
  • Yak-15 and Yak-15 P— switched places.
• Japan
  • Ki-10-II K — grouped with Ki-10.
• Italy:
  • Breda 88 (P.XI) — moved to rank I.
  • Re.2001 CN — moved from group to rank III.
  • P.108A serie 2 — moved to rank II.
  • P.108B serie 1 — moved to rank III.
  • SM.91 — moved to rank III. The requirement for unlocking rank V is reduced from 6 to 5 vehicles.
  • CL-13 Mk.4 - moved to rank V. The requirement for unlocking rank VI has been increased from 3 to 4 vehicles.
  • M.D.450B Barougan — groupped with M.D.450B Ouragan
  • M.D.452 IIC. — moved after M.D.452 IIA.

Navy tech tree changes:

• Britain:
  • Fairmile D (697) and Brave class (P1011) — switched places.

Customization

• Rooikat 105, Rooikat Mk.1D - Standard camouflage has been fixed. New tri color stone camouflage has been added and is available for purchase for Golden Eagles.
• Class 3 (P) - "Desert Late" camouflage corrected to Desert camouflage of the RSA armed forces".
• Identification marks and decals on the following vehicles have been transferred to the standard camouflage layer. Previously issued decals remained available only to those who purchased the vehicles before the release of the update "Ixwa Strike": PG 02, Haida (G63), USS Bennion (DD-662), USS Cowell (DD-547), Pr. 7U Stroyny.
• Previously issued decals which were transferred in past updates to the layer of the standard camouflage remained available only to those who purchased the vehicles before the release of the update "Ixwa Strike": SU-76M (5th Gv.Kav.Corps), T-III (USSR), Grant I, KV-220, Comet I "Iron Duke IV", T-V (СССР), IS-2 "Revenge".
• "Late Single-Color Camouflage" has been added for the following Japanese vehicles: M24, M4A3 (76) W, M41A1, M42.
• New decorations for the Bluewater and Coastal fleet have been added. They are available for completing tasks and for Golden Eagles.

Awards

• Medals and decorations in the player's card will be now shown in the form of insignia for those awards where it was provided.

Interface

• The setting options of aerobatic smoke have been moved from aircraft combat settings to the test flight window and the respawn window of the multiplayer game sessions.
• A loading screen filter has been added to the main settings options which allows you to exclude unwanted loading screens from the rotation (available with premium account). The filter will be applied only after logging into the game with a personal account and doesn't affect the initial screen in the login window.
• In the pop-up info card for shells for ground and naval vehicles, an animated tip has been added, explaining the type of impact of the given shell on a target. This feature will appear in the game in one of the upcoming minor updates.

Game mechanics

• Preset nuclear weapon-carrying aircraft have been added to RB tank battles. When a player spawns in such an aircraft, an air raid signal is triggered at the capture points. The bomb can only be dropped on the battlefield part of the map (where ground vehicles of the players are moving) so the enemy team will have a chance to intercept. After a successful bomb drop and detonation the team scores an instant victory. Aircraft nuclear weapon carriers are available for respawn for all players if they accumulate enough respawn score (3000 regardless of the game session BR, number of respawns on other aircraft and successful scouting) and are divided by rank of the game session:
  • BR 6.7-7.7: Тu-4 / B-29A-BN;
  • BR 8.0-9.0: Il-28 / Canberra B.Mk.6;
  • BR 9.3+: Su-7BKL / Jaguar A.
• The icon of the scouted player in ground RB has been replaced from the hit marker to a unique one.
• For the players in aircraft in the ground and naval realistic battles modes, a marker has been added in the battle (game space) for the radio command "Attention on the map".
• Critical damage activity timer has been separated by difficulty level and instead of 90 seconds is now: 75 seconds in AB, 120 seconds in RB, 150 seconds in SB
• The mechanics of counting serious damage in the aircraft destruction scoring system has been changed. Now at the end of the timer, serious damage will not be reset, but will remain on the target until it will be destroyed or repaired at the airfield but will have lowest priority among all types of damage. The priority is now as follows:
  • Active critical damage
  • Active serious damage
  • Active simple damage
  • Expired critical damage
  • Expired serious damage (new)
• The "Historical" and "Semi-historical" content display options in the battle have been combined into one - "Except Fictional". The historical validity labels of the items remain unchanged and still include three separate ones: Historical, Semi-Historical and Fictional. It is recommended to go to the Appearance Settings and make sure that you have selected the desired settings.

Graphical

• The effects of hits from all shells on hard surfaces (metal, soil, sand, concrete etc) have been improved.
• The radius of the blast wave on firing effects has been increased and the saturation has been reduced.
• The buoy model has been replaced by a barrel in the ship's hangar.
• The glow of the flame effects has been improved.

Sound

• New sound design for all aircraft weaponry has been created.
• New sound design for anti-aircraft guns on aircraft locations has been created.
• New sounds for bursting anti-aircraft gun shells in the air have been added.
• New explosion sounds to support the new visual effects of shells hitting different surfaces (metal, ground, sand, concrete etc) have been created.
• Bombs of different masses have different explosion sounds. They are divided into three groups - small, medium, and large.
• The nature of the explosion sounds and gunshots depends not only on the distance of the sound source to the listener, but also on the height of the listener above the ground/water surface.
• The functionality of the "Radio Chat Volume" and "Speech and FMV Volume" has been changed in the audio volume settings. "Radio Chat Volume" is now responsible only for the volume of the radio messages to the team. "Speech and FMV Volume" is responsible for all other voice messages (crew talks, briefings, tutorials, etc).
• A mechanism for limiting the use of custom sound modifications has been implemented for the tournament battles. When attempting to participate in a tournament by using custom sound mods you will see a dialog box with the message: "Sound mods are prohibited in the selected game mode. To turn off mods you need to restart the game. Restart the game?"
• T-34 engines now have the authentic sound of the original tank's diesel.
• Leopard 1 tanks have had their own engine sound added.
• Some ground vehicle engine sounds have been changed to a more historically correct version.

Changes and fixes for VR devices

• Now you can toggle the VR mode in the section "graphic" from the game settings in the "hangar". To apply any changes, players need to restart the game.
• Display of marks for collimator sights has been corrected - Now their scale corresponds to the size of the marks when using a monitor.
• A bug has been fixed where the collimator sight might shift to the side of the motion when turning your head which was causing the incorrect indication of the aiming point.
• A bug has been fixed where in VR mode, the tank damage indicator sometimes wasn't shown.

Smaller updates that came afterwards

11.03.2021 (2.5.0.17)

• Impact animation has been added to shell info cards for ground and naval vehicles.
• Me 262 A group - naming has been corrected.
• Separate launch option for the Tiny Tim rockets has been added for all aircraft featuring this rocket.
• AD-2, AD-4 (all nations) — separate drop option has been added for 1000 pounds bombs.
• SARC MkVI (2pdr) — crew number has been raised from three to four.
• Ji-Ro — crew number has been raised from five to seven.
• Leclerc S1, Leclerc S2 — muzzle velocity of the OFL 120 G1 round has been increased from 1650 to 1780 metres per second with respective armour piercing recalculations.

Sound

• The volume of gun hit sounds on different surfaces has been fixed.
• The sound of explosions has become less sharp, the ‘clap’ effect has been removed.
• The sounds of explosions have been removed for AP rounds hitting armour.

Fleets

• A bug has been fixed causing AI-gunners in 57-88mm guns ignoring enemy larger ships.
• SMS Kaiser — a bug has been fixed that caused the disabling of 150mm shell selection in combat. 88mm guns have been moved to AA artillery group.

12.03.2021 (2.5.0.21)

• Ji-Ro - the position of the sight has been corrected for SB mode.
• Su-9, Su-11 - textures relating to the tail tearing off have been fixed.

Enduring Confrontation

• A bug where AI controlled US aircraft models appeared in the USSR missions at ranks VI and VII has been fixed.
• An aircraft carrier template has been added to the “Enduring Confrontation: Tunisia mission (landing and taking off from carrier. Missions to destroy carriers, are now available).
• A bug with the ground convoys of team A has been fixed. Previously, they were unable to be detected, and tasks for escorting and destroying convoys were not available.
• A bug which would cause no indication of the square in which the ground convoy was located, during tasks requiring the destruction of the convoy, has been fixed.
• A bug which would result in an incorrect calculation of the distance between the ground convoy and the front line, which would subsequently result in convoys travelling further into enemy territory, has been fixed.
• The paths of aircraft carriers have been corrected, and they should now move straight between the path points, without trying to constantly turn, which should facilitate taking off and landing upon them. This applies to both naval and aircraft Confrontations.
• A bug relating to aircraft carrier detection has been fixed in naval and aircraft Confrontations. Missions to attack and locate aircraft carriers should be available again.