War Thunder Infantry

I’ve followed War Thunder for ages, and slapping infantry into it feels like a stroke of genius or a recipe for total mayhem. Time to unpack what Gaijin’s thrown down in the Line of Contact update and how it flips combined arms on its head.

What Infantry Brings to War Thunder

Closed beta testing drops you straight into playable grunts in a title that’s always been about rolling metal. Forget lazy AI fillers – these soldiers pack real heat and demand hands-on control. Core setup: Granitograd’s your playground, a made-up Eastern European spot built for this mode. Hit the car park, school, and shopping center as key spots. The layout packs in floors, rooftops you can climb, and spots to duck behind that turn street fights into something tense (if a tank round doesn’t vaporize you first).

Infantry gear covers:

• Belt-feds for laying down heat
• Scatterguns for room-clearing
• Underbarrel boom-sticks
• Shoulder-fired AA for swatting jets
• FPV drones – hell yeah, you get to fly these bad boys into targets

Combat Classes and Mobile Infantry Concept

Gaijin leaned hard into sci-fi vibes. Ditch plain troops for combat exoskeletons – powered suits that let foot soldiers haul gear that’d normally need a turret.

The Exoskeleton Platform Explained

All classes share the core frame, tweaked for jobs:

• Tough helmet and face shield
• Jump-boosters for roof hops (rocket-assisted vaults? Wild)
• Smoke poppers
• Beefed-up loadout limits
• Quicker strides

Standard base with swap-out arms. Smart on paper. In the wild? Players will exploit it until it breaks.

New Vehicles in Line of Contact

Ground Forces Highlights

BMPT “Terminator” (grindable and cash-grab variants) T-72 base with twin 30mms and side ATGMs. Built to back up boots on ground – fits this drop like a glove.

M10 Booker – USA’s fresh light tank 105mm punch with recon perks; plugs the gap in quick US firepower.

Ajax – British light tank 40mm quick-firer with solid speed; slots at the end of the light line where it belongs, finally.

SAM Systems (Because Air Needs More Counters)

• HQ11 (China): AESA setup, eight tubes, 30km reach



• Type 03 Chū-SAM (Japan): Team-based with AESA and VLS cans



• NASAMS 3 (USA/Sweden): Active-radar shots from Norwegian-US collab

High BR ground queues at 9.3+ snag extra slots – one more in Arcade, two in Realistic (tank and AA). Finally, top decks breathe easier.

Aviation Updates – AESA Radar Era

Germany, Britain, and Italy snag Typhoon tweaks – CAPTOR-E AESA and eight AIM-120s. Beyond-visual-range scraps just turned deadly serious.

F/A-18E Super Hornet hits the US lineup Extra racks over the base model, AESA nose, 12 active missiles. Deck-launched gen-4 that’ll own high-end air RB.

JAS39E for Sweden Brimstone drops, AESA boost, bigger payload. Gripen’s climb keeps paying off.

MiG-25PD – Event Reward Aircraft Pushes past 30km up, hits Mach 3, packs R-60s and R-40s. Foxbat interceptor shreds high-flyers – subsonic foes won’t know what hit ’em.

Oddball picks no one called for, but count me in:

• FR-1 Fireball (Premium): Prop-jet mashup from the war



• DB-LK (Premium): Twin seats, weird wings, spinning gunner setups

B-25 line now has proper cockpits – about time for that workhorse.

Naval Fleet Additions

Three big guns join up:

• USS South Dakota (USA)



• HMS Prince of Wales (Britain)
• Stalingrad (USSR)

Bigger win: naval fights get Severe Damage rules:

• Land 50% hurt on a hull, claim half the kill points right away.
• If someone seals it, you still bag the assist – beats air where end-game math screws you.
• Cruisers and up at 30%+ damage spit partial rewards too.

Ends that rage when you gut a BB and a sniper steals the kill.

Map Improvements and Visual Updates

Winter Poland got a full facelift – structures, plants, all refreshed. Paths stay familiar, so old hands won’t stumble.

Hangar Overhaul

• Ammo racks show ordnance upfront for planes; ground rides flash loads on the flank



• Mouse-over hints spill munition details sans stat dives



• Customization animations kick in:
  • Jets: hoods flip, flaps drop, motors roar, props whirl
  • Tanks: turrets swing, top MGs pivot
  • Boats: batteries and fish tubes turn

Paid and event rides pop in fancy custom sheds with techs tinkering. Click to warp there (or kill holiday flair in options for plain Jane).

Community Reactions and Concerns

Reddit’s buzzing. Loudly.

From threads 1-2 years ago when infantry leaks started:

“I don’t want infantry. Nobody does. Literally nobody asked for infantry… You really want modern enlisted in war thunder lmao.”

“The most logical way i see War Thunder adding Infantry, is as AI infantry deployed by APC’s and IFV’s. For balance reasons thanks to the placement of some vehicles it would be rank locked like scout drones are.”

“A single soldier can knock out a tank incredibly easily in enlisted (I don’t fear tanks at all playing that game) so us tankers will have to be a lot more wary in urban areas… All that said, I actually would love this, so long as infantry was AI.”

Valid concerns raised:

• Map design needs complete rework – both size and interior modeling. Current War Thunder maps weren’t built for ground-level combat with building access.
• Balance nightmare incoming. If infantry can easily disable tanks like in Enlisted, vehicle players will hate urban maps. If tanks dominate too hard, infantry becomes cannon fodder with extra steps.
• Game mode bloat – War Thunder already struggles with queue times across air/ground/naval split. Adding infantry fragments the playerbase further.

The counterpoint: Many players genuinely want combined arms done properly. APC and IFV deployable AI infantry could work if implemented thoughtfully. Rank-locked like scout drones to prevent low-tier chaos.

Should You Apply for Infantry CBT?

Applications are open right now. Limited slots available – expect competitive selection.

Pros of participating:

• First experience with genuinely new War Thunder gameplay
• Influence early balance through feedback
• Access to content before general population
• Unique testing phase cosmetics (probably)

Cons to consider:

• Closed beta means bugs, crashes, frequent wipes
• Limited map pool during testing
• Unbalanced mechanics guaranteed
• Time investment during holiday season

If you’ve played both War Thunder and Enlisted, you understand what Gaijin’s attempting. Combining their vehicle simulation expertise with infantry gunplay from their other title – ambitious as hell.

My take? The exoskeleton approach sidesteps the “fragile soldier vs tank” problem creatively. By making infantry tougher and more mobile through powered armor, they create a middle ground between realistic vulnerability and actual playability. Whether this works depends entirely on execution – and we won’t know until testing begins.

The fact that they’re starting with top-tier futuristic equipment rather than WWII/modern conventional infantry suggests they learned from Enlisted’s balance struggles. Starting at the extreme end lets them test mechanics before scaling down to more vulnerable units.

What’s Coming Next

Based on testing feedback, expect significant iterations before any public release. Gaijin stated they’re treating this differently than vehicle testing – starting with the most advanced infantry loadouts to stress-test core mechanics.

The Malaysian aircraft branch for Japan’s tree continues expanding: F/A-18D, MiG-29N, Su-30MKM all mentioned for future additions. Combined with the Indonesian Hawk already added, Japan’s getting a serious Southeast Asian air roster.

Random vehicle mechanic in combined battles helps players with limited lineups continue fighting – quality-of-life change that should’ve existed years ago.

—

Bottom line: Line of Contact is either the beginning of War Thunder’s evolution into true combined arms, or it’s about to create the most chaotic imbalanced mess this game has ever seen. Given Gaijin’s track record, probably both simultaneously. The closed beta will reveal which direction this heads – and whether infantry can coexist with vehicles without ruining what makes War Thunder unique.

Applications are open. System requirements are reasonable. Content is ready. Now we wait to see if futuristic combat exoskeletons can actually work in a game built around historical vehicle accuracy. What could possibly go wrong?