The new War Thunder Spearhead update adds dozens more vehicles and solves a longstanding naval warfare exploit

A new War Thunder update has expanded the vehicle lineup of the free-to-play war game, alongside a much-needed naval rework that stops players from exploiting the repair system. While recent newcomers such as Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders have brought fresh competition, Gaijin Entertainment's combat sim is still holding strong among the platform's most-played games, and this latest overhaul is another good reason to return and see what's changed.

The War Thunder Spearhead Update includes nine new ground vehicles, a dozen planes, five helicopters, and 13 ships. Among them are the currently in-service EBRC Jaguar light tank from France, the British Chieftain 900 tank, China's high-mobility CM34 light tank, the unique Dutch Fokker D.XXIII aircraft from World War II, a trio of bomber planes from Great Britain, the USS Oregon City, and the IJN Nagato super-dreadnought.

The AH-56 Cheyenne stands out as a special case here, because it's the free Steam game's first compound helicopter, boasting the fixed wings of a plane and an impressive range of weaponry. 'Mighty Mouse' rockets, TOW missiles, a 30mm cannon, and the choice between an M129 grenade launcher and a 7.62 minigun means you're equipped for just about any scenario.

The Stalingrad and Carpathians maps have been overhauled. The former gets a fresh set of textures across all its models, along with new additions to the environment such as ice, tank tracks, and snow. The latter, meanwhile, has had all its assets redesigned, but both keep their existing layouts intact. Gaijin Entertainment has also made some adjustments across other locations, including Eastern Europe and both Ardennes variants.

Naval battles have been upgraded with a new mechanic called 'damage control.' This allows you to assign three different action presets that take the place of the standard manual repairs of firefighting, module repair, and water pumping. When they're needed, they'll be carried out automatically by your available crew as soon as possible, providing you have the capacity. Newer ships will have more advanced and effective options at their disposal.

You're still able to switch to the old system if you prefer, but can no longer benefit from intentionally deciding to not repair damaged parts of your ship, a tactic Gaijin calls "antithetical to gameplay and the intentions of the mechanic." It acknowledges that this could be seen as lowering player agency, but says it's a change made "in favor of fairer gameplay across the board, and rewarding the active player in the engagement." Anti-aircraft guns have also been made lower range and less accurate.

Elsewhere, new training missions found in the tutorial menu give you some assistance in learning how to use flares and guided bombs. The developer has also introduced a new feature called 'daily universal backups.' These can be used directly in battles to respawn a vehicle that you've lost, and work on anything, in any mode. You get five per day, but they won't stack up if you don't use them, so make sure to get the most out of them while you can.

The War Thunder Spearhead Update is live now, and you can play for free on Steam. Check the full changelog courtesy of Gaijin Entertainment before you gear up and jump in, just to make sure you aren't caught off-guard by any of the many balance changes that have been made to existing favorites.