War Thunder Spearhead Update

The Spearhead update hit mid-June 2026, and honestly, it surprised me with how much it packs in. After digging through the patch notes and testing a few things out, I’ve pulled together all the key stuff right here, so you don’t have to sift through endless forum threads.

What’s Actually New Here

Stalingrad and Carpathians maps just got a real glow-up that makes them pop on screen; naval damage handling completely changed up; a bunch of new vehicles hit air, ground, and sea modes; and some long-overdue tweaks make the game feel smoother.

Naval Damage Control: The Controversial Addition

The setup swaps out manual fixes for three auto damage control options: Repair, Extinguishing, and Unwatering.

This feature lit up Reddit arguments, and yeah, it makes sense.

Here’s the breakdown:

• All three kick in right after damage hits
• You set priorities – primary, secondary, additional
• Primary goes full throttle; the rest lag behind
• Once primary wraps, secondary ramps up with no slowdown

Default setups cover basics if you skip tweaks – each zeros in on one task. Switching modes has a 4-second wait.

The debate? It turns naval into more of a point-and-shoot deal for some, with too much hand-holding. Others dig ditching the constant button-mashing. Upside – flip back to manual mode in Options > Naval Battle Settings.

Values differ by ship – size, build, crew size, and era all factor in. Old WWI beasts act different from WWII cruisers or today’s fast boats, which nails the history angle.

Field repairs vanished from naval since Damage Control covers it. Hull fixes show a unique icon (not the wrench), then the water pump sign follows.

Free Daily Universal Backups: Finally

This one’s a game-changer on its own.

You get 5 daily universal backups that slot into any vehicle for modes that allow them.

Key points:

• No inventory clutter – activate them straight in battles
• Reset at 00:00 GMT each day
• Unused ones don’t carry over
• Midnight in a match? No refresh for that game

Burn through five today, grab five more tomorrow. Straightforward way to ditch old backup limits.

Ground Forces: The Standout Vehicles

EBRC Jaguar (France)

France’s in-service light tank landed, and it’s a real flanker for pushy players. The 40 mm cannon paired with tandem-charge ATGMs turns it nasty at Rank 7 – research eased up from 400,000 RP to 260,000 RP pre-drop.

It shines in side hits and ambushes. Speed, punch, and fire-and-forget shots open doors for anyone who can line them up.

Chieftain 900 (Great Britain)

Chieftain Mk 5 got a solid upgrade:

• 900 HP engine swap (beats stock ones)
• Laser rangefinder
• Front metal plating
• Better handling without skimping on defense

Challenger lineup snagged engine bumps too – 1217 HP to 1314 HP on Mk.2, Mk.3, DS, 2/2F/TES, 2 OES, 3 TD, Black Night, Khalid, and FV4030/3. Tops out the same, but it pulls harder now.

BTR-82AT (USSR)

BTR-82AT slots 9M133 Kornet ATGMs into Soviet lines with a tuned engine and dual-stabilized gun. Extras:

• Better commander sights
• Stock gunner NVD yanked (for balance)
• Slat armor option (on/off)
• Rear wheel X-ray glitch sorted

T-34-85 (STP) with Stabilizer

This oddball packs the STP-S-53 “Taran” stabilizer, letting it snap shots quicker than plain T-34-85s. Ammo and reloads tuned from history docs (MILITARY CLASSICS Vol.35, Jiro Sayama notes, ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE).

Other Ground Vehicle Highlights

Chi-Ri tweaks – BR up from 5.0 to 5.7, shifted to Rank IV, added a 6th crew slot, ammo swapped (Type 1 APHE out, Type 94 HE in). Spread tightened on Chi-To, Chi-To Late, Chi-Ri, Na-To, Chi-Nu II.

Auto-tracking for air targets hit tons of MBTs – T-72B3, T-90M, T-80BVM, 2S25M, Challenger 2BN, VT4 line, MBT2000, Al-Khalid, Type 10, Merkava Mks, Challenger 3 TD.

VT4 and VT4A1 added spall liners to turret and upper front, boosting crew odds. ERA bits snap off one by one now, not chunks.

M1A2 SEP v2 – Mine kit dropped to Tier I from IV (huge win), TUSK splits into its own auto-unlock module. Mount or ditch either solo.

Aircraft: Top-Tier Additions and Fixes

F-15C Golden Eagle (USA)

Golden Eagle packs heat:

• Beefy AESA radar (ANAPG63 V3 per dev notes)
• Up to eight AIM-120C AMRAAMs
• Targeting pod
• Full guided ground strike kit

It owns top air realistic with lock-on-from-afar tricks.

Hawk 200 Series (Great Britain)

Britain nabbed the Hawk 200 and Hawk 200 RDA – zippy multirole birds with killer accel from strong motors and light frames.

Loadouts cover:

• 1000 lb bombs
• Rocket packs
• Ground missiles
• AIM-9L air-to-airs
• Sea Eagle ship-killers

RDA skips guns for radar and pulls Skyflash missiles. Costs 350,000 RP to unlock, 300,000 for mods (live server).

Su-30MK2 AMV (USSR Pack)

Venezuela flags debut with this Rank 8 premium in Soviet air. First Rank 8 premium there, with:

• Head-up display
• Top weapons
• Grind boosts

TV thermal sight got axed on live (was on dev).

Mosquito B.Mk.XVI (Squadron Vehicle)

Bomber version, no guns front or back – but it hauls the 4,000 lb “cookie cutter” blockbuster for ground realistic. Wipes bases or clusters in a single run.

Additional Aircraft Changes

JH-7 and JH-7A Prototype (China) – JH-7A went premium pack, JH-7 stays grindable. JH-7A added Kh-29T missiles.

F-16I Sufa (Israel) – AIM-120B slots in; no more block on SPICE 2000 bombs with AAMs.

Fokker D.XXIII (Netherlands/France) – Dual-prop push-pull WWII fighter with 13.2 mm MGs. Weird setup flies off-kilter from norms.

Flight model fixes – Su-27, Su-30SM, Su-33, Su-34, J-10A, J-11 got RPM tweaks and steady max thrust. Helo mouse pitch sped up.

Gun burst gaps in turns fixed at last – that bug grated forever.

Helicopters: The Cheyenne Arrives

AH-56A Cheyenne (Squadron Vehicle)

War Thunder’s debut compound helo rocks fixed wings and a tail pusher prop, topping 400 km/h low and level. Setup’s one-of-a-kind.

Gear:

• Mighty Mouse rockets
• TOWs
• 30 mm gun
• M129 launcher or 7.62 minigun (swap ’em)

Speed plus guns make this squad bird a must for helo fans.

AH-64E variants spread to China, Indonesia (Japan), Netherlands (France), and Britain’s AH Mk.2 Apache.

AH-1W and AH-1F added HMCS for better locks.

Naval Fleet Additions

Big guns joined up:

IJN Musashi (Japan) – 1943 setup with secondary tweaks and updated gear. Premium pack with IJN Nagato.

Clemenceau (France) – Battleship mirroring Richelieu’s forward turrets.

HMS Centurion (Britain), SMS König (Germany), USS Oregon City (USA), Erevan (USSR), RN Italia / RN Littorio (Italy) – beef up naval lines.

Smaller stuff: PT-262 (Premium USA), PGM-9 (USA), Kari (Japan), Le Brestois (France), Commandant Dominé (France).

Air Realistic Battle Changes

Newbie Air Realistic shook up big:

• Airfield kills gone
• Bases start at 4 instead of 3
• Destroyed bases come back
• Some tanks swapped to APCs (fighter-friendly)
• Contrails hit real – 9.5 km at +15°C sea level, 5 km at -25°C

At BR 10.7+, ItO 90M SAMs guard fields. No more easy dives – dodge or die.

Enduring Confrontation Updates

AI plane BR spreads shifted per rank. BR 10.7+ splits templates for attackers, recon, bombers.

Ground counterattacks back – win as attackers? 50% shot losers push to reclaim.

Convoy fixes: Team A spawn sorted, freeze on kills gone, under 3 vehicles counts as wrecked.

Quality-of-Life Improvements

Rapier, CS/SA5, Roland 1, FlaRakPz 1, XM975 – Stock missiles free on SL now. No more paywall pain.

Target tracking – Lots gained it; some Leclercs ditched theirs (balance call).

BMD series armor bumped – 70 mm alloy at driver port, 15 mm barrel wrap, thicker at angles.

Animations on externals – T-90M nets, Bkan 1C barrel net, M1128 camo, Namer chains, Leopard 2 cloth, Ariete net. Early tests for more.

Ejection seats to old birds – T-2, F-1, Hunter, Su-7, Lightning, MD.450B, F-84s, MD-460, MD 452/454, J-35, etc.

HUD fixes – Pitch ladder glitch gone on many; Maverick envelope on capable planes.

Training Missions Expansion

Fresh drills under Battles > Tutorial > Testing Weaponry and Equipment:

• Satellite-guided bomb
• Satellite-guided bomb with sight
• Flares vs. no-counter missiles
• Flares vs. counter-protected missiles

Onboards newbies without match waste.

Audio and Visual Polish

Sounds sharpened:

• Turbine tanks hum right at 80+ meters
• Foe tracks carry farther
• Bombs drown noise up close (immersive)
• Cannon audio matches firing count
• Thai/Dutch crews chat native
• Urban gun echoes beefed

Small bullet hits reworked. Rocket smoke linger fixed. Sand smoke whiteout gone.

Interface and Customization Updates

Swap research nation looks to any operator flag/name you’ve got vehicles for. Options:

• Flag & name (default)
• Flag only
• Name only

Purely cosmetic – grinding unchanged. Stats and results show operator flags from fights.

Privacy boost – Hide squadron in hangar/battle (hides from lists, replays, logs).

Profile frames – Task-earned or Golden Eagle buys. Brown unicolor camo for new French ground (Eagles needed).

Notable Balance Changes

J-11A – Air BR down from 13.7 to 13.3.

M1A1 – All-mode BR up from 11.3 to 11.7 (due).

Chi-Ri – BR leap from 5.0 to 5.7 with rank/ammo shifts.

CA Lorraine (France) stats overhauled:

• Upper front: 50 → 60 mm
• Mass: 25 → 32.9 tons
• Max power: 685 HP @3000 rpm → 600 HP @2500 rpm
• Elevation: -6°/+16° → -6°/+19°
• Traverse: ±9° → ±10°
• Gunner zoom: x6 → x8

Vickers Mk.1 – Power from 608 HP to 709 HP (nice lift).

Groups shuffled, renamed, rank-moved for tree cleanup.

What the Dev Server Revealed

Dev ran October 24 to November 7, early play with perks:

• 5x RP and SL
• Vehicles half off
• RP-to-Eagles half price

Bugs hit (most patched live):

• New rides off on stats, armor, guns
• Some planes cockpit-less
• Ground crews invisible
• Wing pods wrong on select birds
• MB-326K showed premium by mistake

Dev buys (Eagles etc.) to mains – RP, SL, unlocks, feats stayed put.

Custom Battles Addition

Customs now let you mark targets with team tags – flip on in setup. Helps squad runs.

What’s Worth Your Time

If you’re grinding specific trees:

• France – EBRC Jaguar’s a steal at cut RP. Deadly, quick, pulls you in.
• Britain – Hawk 200s handle multirole solid; Chieftain 900 fixes old Chieftain drags; Challengers accel better across board.
• USA – F-15C Golden Eagle rules top air if BVR clicks for you.
• USSR – BTR-82AT slots perfect; Su-30MK2 AMV speeds Rank 8 rush.
• China – CM34 delivers 30 mm bite; JH-7s strike hard.
• Japan/Israel/Sweden – Fills holes, nothing wild.
• Naval – Damage control needs getting used to; old way if auto irks.

The 5 daily universal backups help all – save for tough spots or big bills.

Final Thoughts

Spearhead loads up without flipping the script on basics. Map visuals pull you in deeper; fresh rides mix it up; tweaks kill old gripes.

Naval control splits crowds – streamlined for some, control loss for others. Toggle saves it.

Stalingrad’s grim vibe sharpened; Carpathians details pop without layout shakes.

Pulled the must-knows here – save the page, info’s all set. Dropped mid-June 2026, most runs smooth after dev fixes.

Grind new stuff, soak visuals, tweak to naval shifts – plenty to chew on for a while.