Fans of War Thunder are considered particularly ambitious and deeply knowledgeable about tanks, airplanes, and more. However, a player has allegedly leaked secret documents in a dispute over a small detail of their favorite tank – and this is not the first time.
What happened?
- In War Thunder, military vehicles such as tanks and airplanes play an important role.
- Players control the military vehicles, and many fans are interested in every detail.
- The dispute over the detail of one of the tanks of the French military escalates in the forum – allegedly the turret in the game rotates too quickly compared to reality.
- To prove his point, an alleged tank driver apparently shares secret information that should actually be classified (via ukdefencejournal.org.uk). The documents have since been deleted.
What kind of information is this? It concerns the turn rate of the turret of the French tank Leclerc S2. It seems to be too fast in the game. The forum user __RED_CROSS__ claims that in real life, the turret rotates more slowly.
As proof, he states that he has driven such a tank himself – thus apparently being part of the military – and publishes the actual speed. To support his argument, he supposedly even released parts of the manual for the tank (via War Thunder forums).
This information, however, is classified. The posts have already been deleted. So we cannot 100% confirm whether they were actually secret documents. There is currently no reaction from the French Ministry of Defense.
To be safe, the moderators have removed the content. The Leclerc S2 is still in use in the French military. If the information is correct, it would pose a serious security risk to leave this data online. Especially since this has happened before and proven genuine secret documents have been displayed.
Already the 2nd case in 3 months
This is what happened previously: In July, there was a case where an alleged tank commander published secret documents about the British Challenger 2 – which, according to the Ministry of Defense, were still classified.
Here too, it happened in the War Thunder forums, and the moderators apparently deal with this more frequently. Many fans are considered extremely dedicated and appreciate the realism of the games.
Is there a penalty? It is currently unclear whether the information is indeed secret documents or if the user is simply making claims. In the previous case, the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom reacted.
In this case, however, there is still no statement. In the Tidworth case, the leak carried a penalty of up to 14 years in prison. Whether the user here also faces punishment is still uncertain. Either way, he received a reprimand from the moderators in the forum.
In the forum, all information that appears even slightly classified is usually deleted. The moderators say they themselves cannot decide what is protected and what is not. And before any trouble arises, they prefer to remove the relevant documents.
If you prefer gaming to leaking secret documents, Battlefield 2042 is currently a great option. It is not as realistic as War Thunder but also features tanks and more – and is starting its open beta soon:
Battlefield 2042: Open Beta Start – These are the times at a glance
