War Thunder Eagle’s Shadow: F-15EX, Leopard 2A8 and Every Dev Server Vehicle by Nation
- War Thunder’s next major update, Eagle’s Shadow, will reach the live game in mid-November, Gaijin Entertainment said in a press release on November 2.
- Players can try it now.
- The dev server changelog, last edited on November 2, names far more than the press release does, though neither gives an exact release date.
War Thunder’s next major update, Eagle’s Shadow, will reach the live game in mid-November, Gaijin Entertainment said in a press release on November 2. Its headline addition is the F-15EX Eagle II, which Gaijin says will become the top aircraft in both the US and Israeli aviation lineups.
Players can try it now. A public test version, the dev server, opened on October 30 at 16:00 GMT (noon Eastern) and is scheduled to close on November 7 at 07:00 GMT, which is 2 a.m. Eastern, or 11 p.m. Pacific on November 6, according to Gaijin’s dev server announcement.
The dev server changelog, last edited on November 2, names far more than the press release does, though neither gives an exact release date. By our count it lists 31 new vehicles across 10 nations, not counting two cockpit upgrades. We have sorted them by nation further down.
Twelve radar missiles on one jet
Gaijin says the F-15EX will be the first aircraft in War Thunder that can carry 12 active radar-homing air-to-air missiles, or up to 20 guided bombs, in a single loadout. An extra countermeasure pod gives it a very large supply of flares and chaff. The press release also points to its AESA radar and electronic warfare suite.
The real jet entered US Air Force service in 2024, according to the release. In the game, the US tree gets the F-15EX itself. Israel’s new jet appears in the changelog as the F-15IA, and it is Israel’s only new vehicle in this update.
The USSR gets a very different kind of jet. The Su-15TM is a Cold War interceptor that Gaijin says can fly faster than Mach 2. It will be the earliest Soviet aircraft in the game to carry medium-range air-to-air missiles: the radar-guided R-98MR and the infrared-guided R-98MT.
Strike pilots also get a new weapon type. In a November 2 dev blog on cluster bombs, Gaijin named the American CBU-87, which holds 202 submunitions, the British BL755 with 147 HEAT (shaped-charge, anti-armor) submunitions, and the Soviet 500 kg RBK-500. The French BM-400 and BLG-66 Belouga are also planned.
Gaijin says every type will do roughly the same damage in play. The bombs are aimed at groups of lightly armored targets, such as anti-aircraft vehicles, troop carriers and trucks. In Air Battles and Nuclear Escalation, Gaijin expects them to work especially well against AI-controlled vehicles grouped around key bases.
The Leopard 2A8 carries six Trophy charges
On the ground, the Leopard 2A8 goes to Germany and Sweden at Rank VIII, according to Gaijin’s Leopard 2A8 dev blog. Sweden’s tank is the version configured for the Norwegian Army, listed on the dev server as the Leopard 2A8NO. Gaijin calls the 2A8 the first mass-produced Leopard 2 with an active protection system.
That system is Trophy, the Israeli design already fitted to the Merkava Mk.4M and the M1A2 (Trophy-HV) in the game. It warns the crew about an incoming anti-tank guided missile and fires a countermeasure to destroy it automatically. The 2A8 has six charges, which cover missiles launched from the ground or from the air.
Gaijin has also added extra front hull armor, composite side modules and an internal spall liner. The cost is mobility, since the blog says the 2A8 is less agile than the Leopard 2A4 and 2A5. Once unlocked, its DM53 APFSDS round can penetrate almost any part of the toughest opponent on the battlefield, Gaijin says.
The real tank is very new too. The blog’s history section says the first production 2A8 and 2A8NO tanks for Germany and Norway were unveiled in Munich on November 19, 2025.
Every new vehicle on the dev server, by nation
The table is our count from the changelog as it stood on November 2. Gaijin warns that new vehicles on the dev server may have wrong stats and unfinished armor, so the list could still change before release. “Pack” marks vehicles sold in paid bundles and “Premium” marks premium vehicles, as the changelog labels them.
| Nation | Aircraft and helicopters | Ground vehicles | Ships | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA | F-15EX; F/A-18D (Pack) | Stingray II (Pack) | Erie | 4 |
| Germany | — | Leopard 2A8 | H-39 | 2 |
| USSR | Su-15TM | BTR-90 | Nikolay Perviy (Imperator Nikolai I); Lyogkiy (Premium) | 4 |
| Great Britain | Fulmar Mk.II | Olifant Mk.1B Optimering, South Africa (Pack) | HMS Duke of York (Pack) | 3 |
| Japan | Firefly Mk.I (Thailand); B-33 | BMP-3F (Indonesia) | IJN Takao | 4 |
| China | Q-5D (Pack) | ZBD04 | — | 2 |
| Italy | AW249 Fenice (helicopter) | V-4/40 (Hungary); Lancia 3Ro (Flak) | Audace | 4 |
| France | — | Cheetah PRTL (Netherlands) | VC-1; Le Hardi; L-990 (Premium) | 4 |
| Sweden | JAS39-5 (Pack) | Leopard 2A8NO (Norway); Pbil m/39 (Denmark, Premium) | — | 3 |
| Israel | F-15IA | — | — | 1 |
| All | 9 | 11 | 10 | 31 |
Nine of the 31 are marked Pack or Premium. The other 22 carry no such label, and both headliners are among them.
Ships make up 10 of the 31 entries. Gaijin’s press release singles out Imperator Nikolai I, a heavily armored Russian Imperial Navy battleship with twelve 305 mm guns. Japan’s IJN Takao arrives as a Rank IV heavy cruiser with ten 203 mm guns and 610 mm torpedoes.
Sun City is now a full coastal city
Two familiar maps have been rebuilt. In an October 28 dev blog, Gaijin says Sun City used to look like an oasis cut off by sand when seen from the air. It is now one continuous city along the coast, with new buildings, roads, trees and vehicles.
Windows can now be shattered and tiles knocked off walls, and shops and banks show proper interiors behind the glass. The damage is only for show, though. Gaijin says players cannot break new paths through buildings, so the routes and tactics stay the same.
American Desert received the same full visual rebuild but keeps its familiar routes, including the train that can still crash into any tank in its way. All 12 weather presets have also been reworked with new clouds and lighting, so that each one looks more like its name.
Smaller changes beyond the new vehicles
Not every change is a new vehicle. Tanks with autoloaders, where the real tank allows it, will now fall back on hand loading when the autoloader is empty or knocked out, according to an October 29 dev blog on tank modules. The catch is that the autoloader does not refill while the crew loads by hand.
Some aircraft will also let players pick their Battle Rating. The changelog’s example is the Su-25SM3: fitting Kh-38MT and Kh-38ML missiles raises its rating by 1.3, while leaving them off keeps it at the lower rating.
Assault: Air Arcade, the mode where players defend a base from AI bombers, changes too. Its old 6.7 to 12.7 top tier is split into three: 6.7 to 8.0, 8.3 to 9.7, and 10.0 to 12.7.
Regular players get a safety net for daily rewards, too. A login streak “Freeze” is earned for every 12 days of logging in, up to 30 at once, and one is used automatically if you miss a day, so the streak does not reset.
How to play Eagle’s Shadow before release
The dev server runs on its own client. Gaijin’s forum post links a Windows launcher for it and does not mention consoles. The server uses a copy of your main account taken in recent days, so you start with the vehicles you already had. A few rules from the post are worth knowing before you start:
- Play before November 7 at 07:00 GMT. Gaijin warns that the server can close at any time before then for technical reasons.
- Avoid “very high” graphics settings for now. Maximum effects quality causes a bug with the vapor effect on wings.
- Research points and Silver Lions come in five times faster than usual, vehicles cost half as much, and converting research points with Golden Eagles is half price.
- Report bugs using the dev server bug-report guide linked in the post. Gaijin says reports help it fix issues before the live release.
The biggest catch is progress. Nothing earned on the dev server moves to the live game, including research points, Silver Lions, achievements and unlocked vehicles. Spending is also separate, so currency used in testing is not taken from your live account.
Real-money purchases are the exception: Golden Eagles and other items bought through the dev server are credited to your main account.
Not everything on the test server will make the cut, either. Tanks such as the M1 Abrams, Leopard 2A8 and Type 10 are trying out double-differential steering, but Gaijin’s October 30 mobility blog says that system and dual-transmission steering will not ship with this update.
Planetary steering, which Gaijin says improves handling without any drawbacks, may arrive with Eagle’s Shadow if testing raises no problems.