Aviation

The F2H-2 Banshee, is an early American jet fighter produced from 1947 to 1953 to be used by the US Navy. This aircraft was surprisingly good in real life and in game, and this article will cover how to use it in battle and a history on its real life usage, variants, and development.

Mörkö-Morane (“Bogeyman-Morane” or “Ghost-Morane”), also known by its official designation MSv, was a Finnish modification of the French Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and M.S.410 fighter aircraft serving in the Finnish Air Force during the Second World War. It was an attempt to improve the obsolete Morane fleet for use during the late war period and to help retain the capabilities of the Finnish Air Force. Designed and converted by Valtion Lentokonetehdas (“The State Aircraft Factory”), Mörkö-Morane was considered to be the second most capable fighter aircraft operated by the FAF during the Second World War, though it arrived too late to have any significant impact.

During the Second World War, Switzerland remained one of the few neutral states in Europe. But preserving that status took more than diplomacy — it required force as well. That force was used more than once, and a key pillar of Switzerland’s defensive strategy became its air force.

During the Second World War, the Finnish Air Force was very diverse when it came to equipment. This was the result of multiple procurement programs, donations from other nations, and the continuous process of pushing captured or even downed enemy aircraft back into service on the home front. In this article, we’ll go through all the aircraft classified as fighters that served in the Finnish Air Force during this period, how they ended up in Finnish service, and what their service was like.

The Su-30MK2 AMV is an export variant of the Su-30, a twin-seat multirole combat aircraft capable of performing both air superiority missions and close air support. Based on the Su-30MK2 produced by the KnAAPO plant, this variant does not feature canards or thrust-vectoring engines. To avoid confusion with the Su-30MK2 operated by Vietnam, the Venezuelan version was designated Su-30MK2 AMV, standing for Aviación Militar Venezolana (Venezuelan Air Force). In War Thunder, the Su-30MK2 AMV is a strong option thanks to its wide selection of air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry. Although heavier than the Su-27, the aircraft retains respectable maneuverability and benefits from excellent missile payload capacity, allowing it to remain effective throughout extended engagements.

Yakolev and Lavochkin fighters were considered the Soviet Union’s main aerial hunters during World War 2. They were fast, agile, and dangerous, but only at low and medium altitudes. The MiG-3 was destined for a different role: it truly came into its own above 6 km, yet there were simply too few missions where that mattered. Only toward the end of the war did an experimental high-altitude fighter by Mikoyan and Gurevich take to the skies — the I-225.

The Vautour IIN is a twin-seater interceptor variant of the French Vautour multirole bomber aircraft, manufactured by Sud Aviation during the Cold War. While it is largely overlooked by many due to the much more commonly encountered IL-28 and Canberra family of bombers, the Vautour IIN can pose a notable threat to enemy fighters due to its high top speed, Shafrir air-to-air missiles, and powerful search radar. However, the Vautour IIN is thoroughly outclassed by more modern aircraft that it commonly faces, such as the F-106, Hunter F.58, MiG-19PT, and the F-104 Starfighter. The Vautour's poor control authority and sluggish roll rate in particular make dogfighting in it a struggle, although skilled pilots may still find ways to outsmart their enemies.

Lockheed is known for making unusual aircraft. The company's legendary creations include the F-104, the U-2, and the SR-71. Another well known plane is the F-117, the first stealth aircraft with its distinctive shape. But why and how was it designed this way? Read more in our infographic.

The P-26 Peashooter is a family of American monoplane fighters developed by Boeing during the interwar period. In War Thunder, it serves as an introduction to the USA’s aviation tech tree, where it stands out for being a monoplane fighter, rather than a biplane, contrary to what other nations have at its tier. That being said, its flight performance and armament is not too dissimilar from those biplanes, albeit with some minor differences.

From the first operational jet fighter, to bombers intended to be able to fly to America in one trip, Germany’s Luftwaffe pushed the boundaries of military aviation to its fullest extent during the Second World War. However, from the war’s beginning, the Luftwaffe's leader, Hermann Göring, had avidly believed in the power of a certain aircraft type for ridding the skies of enemy fighter opposition: the 'Zerstörer' ('Destroyer'). But what actually was this design, and how successful was it in combat?