Hey everyone, first devblog of today and we have a 3 for 1. Today we have seen the first French helicopters that will join the skies of War Thunder, they are the IAR 316B and 2 helicopters from the Gazelle family: SA.341F and SA.342M variants. To start we will look at the focus of the devblog, the Gazelles.

SA.341F & SA.342M Gazelle:

For all helicopter fans, the Gazelles will be a mainstay of the French helicopter tech tree. In the 2 variants, we will first encounter the SA.341F, a lightweight attack helicopter that comes armed with a 20mm GIAT cannon as its primary armament. It can also carry 7 unguided missiles, 2 HOT ATGMs and up to 2 Mistral anti-aircraft missiles. It is set to be a fast helo, flying up to 310km/h (195 mph) and will have great manoeuvrability too.

The next variant to appear is the SA.342M. This version of the Gazelle sacrifices its 20mm GIAT cannon to double its ordinance and also take a more modern layout, which suggests HOT2 ATGMs and can host all the previous options seen in the SA.341F, but at twice the amount. The loss of the 20mm could be seen as a disadvantage however as it means it will have to rely on its ordinance to protect itself from other helos, which could prove challenging.

IAR 316B:

The final reveal we have from this devblog is the premium pre-order for the French Helicopters, which comes in the form of the license produced SA.316B Alouette III which served the Romanian armed forces since the early 1970s. It comes armed with 6 ATGM Malyutkas, two 7.62mm machine guns and 32 unguided 57 mm LPR-57 rockets. It is both available for sole purchase or as part of a bundle alongside the French AMX-30, these are set to cost players €34.99 and €59.49 respectively.

So from today, we can see 1.87 is going to be a large content patch, adding Rank VII, new top cruisers and adding French Helicopters to the game. As always, I will keep you all updated on the latest War Thunder news and I will see you all for the next one. Feel free to discuss your thought and opinions below.