# War Thunder Meet the “Heavy Cavalry” Major Update! - Product: War Thunder (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/war-thunder) - Vendor: Gaijin Entertainment - Date: 2026-06-24 - Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/236390/view/701019713349619048 - Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/war-thunder/releases/2026-06-24-meet-the-heavy-cavalry-major-update What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog. Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'. --- - **added** — Added M1A2 SEPv3 and M1A2 (Trophy-HV) Abrams variants for the USA with improved turret protection - **added** — Added M1A1 (Australia) as a squadron vehicle and M1A2 (Australia) as a researchable vehicle for Great Britain - **added** — Added M829A3 APFSDS round with improved penetration power to Abrams variants - **added** — Added Palmaria 155 mm howitzer on OF-40 chassis for Italy - **added** — Added Hunter AFV with Spike-LR ATGMs and 30 mm Bushmaster II cannon for Israel - **added** — Added premium Puma u14 with unique camouflage netting design for Germany - **added** — Added PGZ88 radar SPAA vehicle with twin 37 mm belt-fed guns for China - **added** — Added Hummel with 150 mm cannon for Germany - **added** — Added F-101C Voodoo jet fighter with excellent top speed for the USA - **added** — Added M-346FA combat trainer for Italy - **added** — Added Yak-130 combat trainer for the USSR - **added** — Added Washington B.Mk.I bomber for Great Britain - **added** — Added IA 58 Pucara ground attack aircraft for Germany - **added** — Added F-14D Super Tomcat premium fighter with AIM-54C+, AIM-9M, and JDAM ordnance for the USA - **added** — Added aircraft crash rewards for nearby players who did not take damage - **added** — Added man-in-the-loop targeting capability - **added** — Added aiming points for salvo firing - **changed** — Improved visuals of Ash River and Winter Ardennes ground locations while retaining their familiar layouts - **changed** — Changed compression format of all ground vehicle textures to improve quality without increasing total texture size - **added** — Added new damage models and MFD screens for aircraft The Heavy Cavalry major update brings a variety of vehicles for all nations, from the Welkin and IA.58A Pucara to the new Abrams variants and USS North Carolina! For ground locations, we’ve improved the visuals of Ash River and Winter Ardennes, all while retaining their familiar layouts. Rewards for aircraft crashing near your vicinity without taking damage, new damage models and MFD screens, man-in-the-loop, and aiming points for salvo firing are some of the features that we’ve worked on in this update to help improve several quality of life aspects of the game. Be sure to check out the changelog to see all the improvements, vehicles and other features that we’ve included in this major update. > Please note that this update requires more data to be downloaded than usual. About 20 GB more for the standard client and 35 GB more for clients with ultra-high quality for ground vehicle textures. This is because we have changed the compression format of all ground vehicle textures, helping to improve their quality without virtually any increase in the total size of the textures. > [url="https://steamcommunity.com/app/236390/discussions/0/562534659773200395/" style="button"]Leave your feedback here ##### Ground Vehicles: New Abrams Variants & An Indonesian Tank! In Heavy Cavalry, the US and Great Britain get two Abrams each. For the US, the formidable M1A2 SEPv3 and M1A2 (Trophy-HV) have been added to the top ranks, featuring better turret protection. And for Great Britain, the Australian M1A1 as a squadron vehicle and the M1A2 as a researchable vehicle have been added to enhance Britain’s top tier capabilities. The new M829A3 APFSDS round has been added to them as well, featuring more penetration power. [table equalcells="1" colwidth=""] [M1A2 SEPv3, M1A2 (Trophy-HV)](https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/688633545874211160) [M1A1 (Australia) (Squadron vehicle), M1A2 (Australia)](https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/688633545874211160) We’ve added the Palmaria to Italy, providing lineups in and around rank IV with some 155 mm howitzer firepower on an OF-40 chassis. Singapore also enters the fray, with Israel getting the Singaporean Hunter AFV! This vehicle features Spike-LR ATGMs and a 30 mm Bushmaster II cannon along with a high speed forwards and backwards, enabling it to scoot around and be a nuisance for the enemy. [table equalcells="1" colwidth=","] (https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/688632911710126911) [Hunter AFV](https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/688632911710126593) The premium Puma u14 comes in with a unique look, featuring pallets strapped to the side and a camouflage netting. The German 33rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion (Panzergrenadierbataillon 33) decorated their vehicles during military exercises conducted in 2022 with this theme, which inspired us with this look! [table equalcells="1" colwidth=""] [Puma u14 (Pack)](https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/653729380381491878) China gets a radar SPAA vehicle in the PGZ88, featuring twin 37 mm belt-fed guns, making it a handy addition to several lineups. Plus, Germany gets the classic Second World War Hummel, featuring a 150 mm cannon that can fire HE and SAP, making it a formidable and fun addition to many lineups as well! [table equalcells="1" colwidth=","] (https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/661610046003611384) (https://steamcommunity.com/games/236390/announcements/detail/688633545874211866) ##### **New vehicles:** - **USA:** М60A1 Predator (Pack), M1A2 SEPv3, M1A2 (Trophy-HV) - **Germany: **Puma u14 (Pack), Hummel - **USSR:** Т-90М (Arena-M) - **Great Britain:** M1A1 (Australia) (Squadron vehicle), M1A2 (Australia) - **Japan:** Leopard 2RI (Indonesia) - **China:** PGZ88 - **Italy: **Palmaria - **France: **Leopard 1A5BE (Belgium) - **Sweden: **NOMADS (Norway) - **Israel:** Hunter AFV (Singap _[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/236390/view/701019713349619048]_