Weapons

Our game regularly adds new models and types of munitions. Today we’d like to talk about the variety and unique features of bombs.

Guided missiles are crucial to modern jet aviation, with different types designed to counter various enemy aircraft. Not long ago, we discussed the best infrared-guided air-to-air missiles, and today it's time to focus on radar-guided missiles — those that lock on a target with the assistance of the aircraft’s radar system.

The Shooting Range 428. In this episode:
Metal Beasts: Recon Master from Japan
Pages of History: The American Skyray
Round Study: Maverick Missile Family
Hotline: What's the role of the secondary inlets on the MiG-29 series in mid-air? What's the fastest plane in the game at the moment? Can satellite bombs be used to destroy bases in air realistic and simulator battles? What's the difference between Pzgr. and Pzgr.39 on tiger tank? What are the different bomb types best used for? What bomb type is best against ground vehicles?

A mortar is a type of smoothbore cannon that exclusively uses high-angle plunging fire. It is designed for indirect fire, with projectiles, technically known as bombs, that drop onto targets from above. Mortars are typically smaller, lighter weapon systems with a shorter range compared to other cannons.

Planes, tanks and ships all have their ways to set things on fire. One of them is to use weapons such as flamethrowers or incendiary bombs. Read more about them — in this article.

The AGM-62 Walleye is a family of American TV-guided anti-surface weaponry, used in purposes such as elimination of large hard targets and enemy shipping. Though type-classified as an air-to-ground missile (AGM), the Walleye is in fact a glide bomb like the PC 1400 "Fritz-X". In War Thunder, it is primarily used in an anti-tank role, uncommon for the type in combat service since it was typically reserved for only the highest-priority of targets, such as enemy command and control centres, large enemy surface combatants, bunkers, and vital pieces of large, "hard" infrastructure such as the infamous Thanh Hóa Bridge (the Dragon's Jaw).

Retaining a lethal enough anti-tank weapon while maximizing mobility proved troublesome in World War II as tank armor increased in an arms race among the belligerents. As the different countries researched better ways of shrinking strong anti-tank power into a man-portable format, one of Germany's concepts took an innovative approach with the application of the "squeeze-bore" weapon to produce a high-velocity rifle at a smaller caliber yet just as capable of punching through tank armor. The s.Pz.B.41 is the result and armed many German soldiers and armored fighting vehicles like the Sd.Kfz.221 in War Thunder, but was such a weapon worth the squeeze?

While 1 mm more doesn't appear so much in size when comparing 75 mm to 76 mm, the Americans managed to make that one extra 1 mm impress with extra firepower boost against tanks during World War II. While the weapon was not without controversy on whether it was indeed the right weapon for the war, it proved sufficient in helping American tankers face-off against tougher enemy tanks to win the overall war. This is the story of how that weapon came to be.