Gaijin Entertainment have released the Drone Age, the next major update to War Thunder.

As its name implies, the biggest new feature in Drone Age is the introduction of modern UAVs into the vehicular combat sim. There are some smaller UAVs that can be deployed as an upgrade to some rank VI and VII ground vehicles. Larger combat UAVs, like the Russian Orion, Chinese Wing Loong 1 and American MQ-1, can be piloted as a reward. These can be used to not only scout enemy locations, but strike enemy vehicles they come across with guided missiles.

Drones are far from the only new vehicles in the game. Drone Age also adds a long list of new ground vehicles, aircraft, and ships. Some of these include the Su-25, the Mirage 2000C S5, the T129 ATAK, the Rooivalk Mk1F CSH, the USS Alaska, the Andrea Dori, the Skink, an entire tech tree of Chinese helicopters, and the Magach line of Israeli tanks.

War Thunder also received the Golden Bay and Pradesh maps, impressive new explosion physics for tanks, improved fire effects on aircraft, fire extinguisher systems for aircraft engine fires, the ability to jettison your payload to lighten your aircraft, and much more.

You can find a trailer below.

You can find a rundown (via Steam) below:

War Thunder is the most comprehensive free-to-play, cross-platform, MMO military game dedicated to aviation, armoured vehicles, from the early 20th century to the most advanced modern combat units. Join now and take part in major battles on land, in the air, and at sea, fighting with millions of players from all over the world in an ever-evolving environment.

In War Thunder, aircraft, attack helicopters, ground forces and naval ships collaborate in realistic competitive battles. You can choose from over 2,000 vehicles and an extensive variety of combat situations many of which are exclusive. You can find yourself blasting your pursuers from a bomber turret, defending your teammates on the ground from an air raid with anti-aircraft guns, shooting down enemy planes with a firestorm from multiple rocket launchers, or trying to sink an enemy warship with a torpedo from a fast attack boat.

Features include:

• Seamless cross-platform gameplay between Windows PC, Linux, Mac, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One with Xbox Series X|S – everyone on the same server.
• Over 2,000 highly detailed aircraft, helicopters, tanks, warships and other combat vehicles crafted carefully from historical documents and surviving sources.
• 100 maps representing the main historical battle theaters.
• Intense PvP experiences in full-scale combat missions at various difficulty settings for all play styles and degrees of experience.
• Rich PvE content including dynamic historical campaigns and solo missions.
• Regular content updates including new vehicles, maps, missions and nations.
• Astonishing graphics, authentic sound effects and beautiful music creating an atmosphere to fully immerse yourself in.
• Create custom content for War Thunder and share it on War Thunder Live, with the prospect of earning real money through the Revenue Share Partner System!

War Thunder has been available on Windows PC, Linux, Mac (all via Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.