Season Update 1.21.3: “Lightning Strike”

In this update, you can expect to see the following:

• Functional radars, new jets and SPAAG in the Tank Campaign!
• Alternative controls for all ground vehicles.
• Anti-submarine rockets and defenses against them!
• New top-rank vehicles and their blueprints in seasonal Trophies.
• A new season of the long-term event with unique vehicles in the Trophies.
• A new season of the Battle Pass.

Read more about the changes in the Lightning Strike major update in the article below.

New vehicles

Tanks

• Merkava Mk.3C main battle tank (Rank XIII)
  (standard and premium versions can be obtained from the trophies during the Lightning Strike event)
• T-80UM2 main battle tank (Rank XIII)
  (standard and premium versions can be obtained from the trophies during the Lightning Strike event)

Ships

• USS South Carolina missile cruiser (Rank VI)
  (standard or premium versions can be obtained from the trophies during the Lightning Strike event)
• Pr. 11661K missile frigate (Rank VI)
  (standard or premium versions can be obtained from the trophies during the Lightning Strike event)

Aviation

• He 162 A-2 jet fighter (Rank IX)
  (standard and premium versions can be obtained from the trophies during the Lightning Strike event)
• MiG-9 (l) jet fighter (Rank IX)
  (standard and premium versions can be obtained from the trophies during the Lightning Strike event)

SAMs and New Attack Aircraft

War Thunder Mobile introduces first-generation Mobile Anti-Aircraft Systems (SPAAGs) capable of engaging air targets not only with gun fire but also with guided missiles.

Active radar scanning is now available for all vehicles equipped with radars in the game, including new additions to the research trees:

• Gepard 1A2 (Rank X);
• ZSU-23-4M4 (Rank X);
• XM975 (Rank XI).

* Please note that in the SPAAG battle interface, you can now switch between the minimap and the radar screen.

To make ground battles more dynamic, new jet-powered attack aircraft with powerful cannons and unguided rockets have been added to the Tank Campaign (starting from rank X):

• Hawk 200;
• Su-25;
• A-10 Warthog;
• F-100D;
• MiG-19PT.

Launching decoy flares is available in both manual and automatic ways. The option is activated by holding down the countermeasures button.

New Feature: Anti-submarine Rockets

We are pleased to present a new anti-submarine weapon: the rocket-propelled torpedo, also known as the Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC)!

These rockets are designed to deliver acoustic homing torpedoes to the target area. To destroy an enemy submarine, you need to lock onto it – similar to anti-ship missiles (ASM) – and press the launch button. The rocket carrier will then deliver and drop an acoustic torpedo into the water, which will immediately begin its run towards the target.

To defend against acoustic torpedoes, we have upgraded all Rank VI submarines with Acoustic Decoy Launch Systems (ADLS). The system will warn you of an incoming torpedo and the time until impact. All the captain needs to do is choose the right moment and launch the decoy. If used successfully, the false target will attract the torpedoes, and the submarine will most likely remain unharmed.

To hunt submarines more effectively, the "Sonar station" modification has been reworked. Now, by using active sonar, you can launch an ASROC at a submarine located at a depth of up to 30 meters within a 6 km radius of your ship.

You can test the anti-submarine rocket-torpedoes on the new USS South Carolina, as well as on the following familiar ships:

• JDS Takatsuki
• JDS Hatsuyuki
• JDS Hatakaze
• USS Bainbridge
• USS Knox
• Project 1155

Season “Lightning Strike”

Complete the Lightning Strike combat missions, earn War Bonds and Keys as rewards and unlock trophy containers with valuable prizes for them.

The “Lightning Strike” season will last from December 18th, 2025 to January 22nd, 2026.

War Bonds and Keys cannot be used in the next season. After the end of the current season, War Bonds and Keys will be automatically used to open the relevant trophies in random campaigns. If you want to get rewards from a certain campaign, you have to use the War Bonds and Keys yourself before the end of the season, until 10:00 (GMT) on January 22nd 2026.

Leaderboards

To get into the campaign leaderboard, you need to fight at least 5 battles using vehicles from the relevant campaign (tank and ship take-offs don't count for access to the Aviation Campaign).

The rating season ends on January 15th, 2026 at 10:00 (GMT). Rewards will be distributed within a few days after the leaderboards are frozen. It’s important to note that rewards may be given out at different times for different leaderboards.

New! Decals have been added to the Leaderboard rewards. They will be given to players who reach the Top 10 and Top 1%. In the future, decals will replace avatars in the rewards.

Battle Pass

Complete special tasks, level up your Battle Pass and receive rewards for your completed steps.

When you purchase the VIP pass, you instantly receive special camouflages for one vehicle from the trophies of each campaign, as well as automatically completing 10 steps from the Battle Pass lineup. If you have already purchased an upgraded BP, the cost of the VIP pass will be reduced.

The unique camouflages are given when you purchase a VIP pass no matter if you have a vehicle.

Crew upgrade points re-spec

With Update 1.21.3, we are introducing the long-awaited crew skill reset and redistribution feature.

How the option works:

• the left button (490 PW) allows you to redistribute points within a single slot between skills;
• the right button (1490 PW) completely resets the progression on all slots and allows you to redistribute points first between slots, and then within each slot by skills;
• the option can be used an unlimited number of times.

* If the slot is Level 0 or the available points are not distributed, the options to reset and redistribute points on this slot will not be available. Only the option to reset and redistribute points for all slots will be available.

Plan your Hangar slots carefully and train your crews only in the skills that are essential for your personal combat style!

Vehicle Optimization

The WTM team regularly optimizes vehicle models and corrects errors in them.

The following vehicle models have been optimized:

• Т-34 (1943);
• M18 "Hellcat".

The following bugs in ground vehicle models have been fixed:

• T-80B – the armor value didn't match the actual parameters and was too low in some areas.
• Challenger 2 (2F) – when the ammunition load was destroyed, the destroyed tank model remained “transparent” in some areas.
• Ferdinand – a bug that caused the armor plating on the roof and stern of the hull to be missing has been fixed.

Changes

Tanks

• Alternative controls have been added by default to all ground vehicles in the Tank Campaign.
• T-80UK – the 3BM46 OBPS shell has been added to the shell list.
• Leopard 2 PL – the DM43 OBPS shell has been replaced with the DM53.

Ships

• Z12 – the basic torpedo loadout has been increased from 9 to 12 torpedoes.
• JDS Takatsuki – in the voice acting, the ship type has been corrected from “light cruiser” to “destroyer.”
• A bug that prevented the “Shell Damage” upgrade from working in the Ship Campaign has been fixed.

Aircraft

• The primary role of several aircraft has been corrected:
  • MiG-9 – fighter;
  • Ki-83 – fighter;
  • J5N1 – fighter;
  • A5M4 Hagiri – fighter;
  • Do 335 B-2 – attack aircraft;
  • Me 410 A-1/U2 – fighter;
  • Bf 110 C-6 – attack aircraft;
  • Ta 152 H-1 – fighter;
  • P-47N-15 – fighter;
  • P-47D-22-RE – fighter.
• Me 262 A1/U4 – a typo in the card that caused the aircraft to display pylons for suspended weapons has been fixed.
• Kikka – a bug that caused one machine gun to not be displayed in the aircraft's X-ray model has been fixed.

Decals

• Decals have been added to the Leaderboard rewards. They will be given to players who reach the Top 10 and Top 1%. In the future, decals will replace avatars in the rewards.
• A block with the name and description of the decal has been added to the Customization and Decal editing window.
• Added support for Decals categories.
• A number of bugs related to Decals in the Сustomization menu have been fixed.
• A number of bugs that could cause the button to reset decals installed on ships and aircraft to be missing have been fixed.
• The size of Decals in the Battle Pass preview and rewards window has been increased. An animation has been added.

Other

• A number of minor changes have been made to the interface design (alignment and improvement of elements, redesign of consumables display, new consumables purchase window).
• The shadow settings in the tank Hangar have been fixed to prevent tanks from looking like they are floating in the air.
• A visual bug that caused some players to see certain Medals twice in their Profile has been fixed.
• Adjusted the colors of the damage model and X-ray model for all campaigns.
• A number of bugs with the display of submarine animations in Offer scenes have been fixed. Submarines should no longer crash into rocks.
• A bug with dead zones on the gamepad that caused the tank to stop responding to user commands has been fixed.
• A bug that caused trees to be displayed in low quality on iOS devices with high graphics settings has been fixed.

Announcement

During season 1.20.3, War Thunder Mobile players can look forward to a variety of in-game activities.

Here are the key events:

• The Winter Battles holiday event, running from December 22nd 2025 to January 8th 2026.
• Mini-events to increase the discount in Offers.
• Collectors' Trophy Week.
• Mini-event dedicated to a historically significant date.
• New Operation Pass, starting on December 29th.

We wish you victory and a great experience playing War Thunder Mobile (WTM)!