I would like to suggest adding several French military seaplanes to War Thunder

Machinery of War Discussion Aircraft
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I would like to suggest adding several French military seaplanes to War Thunder.

France developed and operated many seaplanes for reconnaissance, naval patrol, torpedo bombing, anti-submarine warfare and even fighter operations. However, this part of French aviation is currently poorly represented in the game.

The PBY-5A Catalina (Late) already demonstrates that flying boats can have an interesting role in War Thunder, especially in Naval Battles. However, the Catalina is a premium vehicle , and it does not represent French naval aviation.
The lack of French seaplanes also creates an issue for the French progression.

Players who want to use a seaplane while playing France currently have very limited options, and the Catalina being premium means that players have to purchase a premium vehicle to access this type of gameplay.

I believe France should have historically accurate seaplanes available through normal research progression , rather than relying primarily on a premium aircraft.

This is not a request to remove the Catalina. On the contrary, the Catalina can remain as a premium vehicle while French-designed seaplanes are added to the regular French tree.

Suggested French aircraft :
Latécoère 298 :
Torpedo bomber / reconnaissance

  • ~177 built
  • 3 crew
  • Hispano-Suiza 12Y, ~880 hp
  • ~290 km/h
  • 3 × 7.5 mm machine guns
  • 1 × torpedo or bombs
    One of the best candidates for Naval Battles.

Loire 130 :
Reconnaissance / naval patrol

  • ~125 built
  • 3 crew
  • Hispano-Suiza 12Y, ~820 hp
  • ~245 km/h
  • 2 × 7.5 mm machine guns
  • Bombs / anti-submarine charges
    A good low-BR French naval aircraft.

Loire 210 :
Naval fighter

  • 21 built
  • 1 crew
  • Hispano-Suiza 9Vbs, ~980 hp
  • ~315 km/h
    4 × 7.5 mm machine guns
    A very unusual French naval fighter that could offer unique gameplay.

Gourdou-Leseurre GL-812 HY :
Observation

  • 29 built
  • 3 crew
  • ~420 hp
  • ~200 km/h
  • Machine guns
  • Up to ~150 kg bombs
    A suitable early-BR reconnaissance aircraft.

Breguet 521 Bizerte :

Long-range maritime patrol

  • 30 built
  • 3 engines
  • ~16 tonnes maximum mass
  • ~255 km/h
  • Multiple machine guns
  • ~300 kg bombs
    A large French flying boat for long-range naval patrol.

Potez-CAMS 141 Antarès :
Long-range maritime patrol

  • 1 prototype completed
  • 4 engines
  • ~320 km/h
  • Very long endurance
  • Multiple machine guns
  • Bombs / naval weapons
    Could be an event, premium or special aircraft.

Thank you for reading
Would you like to see French military seaplanes added to War Thunder?
👍 Yes, I would be interested
🤔 Maybe / depends on the aircraft
👎 No, not interested

2

There’s more of them already available in naval battles as “scout plane” spawns from some ships

Not GL-812 HY, but another Gloire 800-series plane, the GL-832 HY

Gaijin seem reluctant to add most of the naval mode hydroplanes to the research tree to allow them in other game modes, but they are there.

There was a Latécoère 298 as an event premium.

Didn’t come with a marketplace coupon so the only way to obtain it in the research tree now, is probably with luck buying those limited-time SL crates, or if they add it in a battle pass crate in future like the PBM-3 in the current BP
I think some French ships might also have it as a scout plane spawn now though

1 Like
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If you want to create a suggestion you can do so in the suggestion section here on the forum. That section is however pre-moderated and only posts that follow their rules and guidelines will get posted and it can take a couple of weeks for a post to get reviewed for publication. If it gets accepted and made public it then has a chance to get sent to the developers as a suggestion later on.

4

I agree with you, but these planes are catapult-launched from ships and aren’t available in the aircraft research tree, whereas other nations have them.

5

All ship based aircraft in game should also be available within the Tech Tree, especially as they were all capable of independent operations from seaplane bases and so are not limited by their spawn points.

Admittedly most will be pretty useless beyond their spotting/capping role but that shouldn’t be a reason to ignore them considering they are modelled anyway. There are already plenty of vehicles in game across all modes that have been reduced to ‘tier 0’ status so even the the worst can find a home.

It’s literally minimal effort and in my book a no-brainer, I fail to see why it’s not automatic.