First of all, I want to thank War Thunder for giving Vietnamese players the privilege of having crew voices in the game, especially when some other countries still don’t have them.
Even though I’ve been playing for over a year, I can’t help but feel a slight sense of insult here—a bit of carelessness in how they handled this. They spent time and effort using AI to generate the voices, instead of first asking AI about Vietnamese intonation and speech patterns, and then taking the proper steps once the necessary materials for converting text to voice were properly prepared.
Let me give a few examples…
From 0:10 to 0:42, there are communication lines with the artillery crew, and I was honestly shocked when I heard them. In real life, we don’t talk so mechanically. For example, when calling for artillery support, we would actually say:
“Yêu cầu pháo kích chi viện vào tọa độ…(A,B,C,D,E,…)” -
Requesting artillery strike at coordinates… (example ABCDE sector…)
Then the artillery crew would confirm the firing order with:
“Đã xác định tọa độ mục tiêu, pháo binh vào vị trí, chuẩn bị…BẮN !!!” -
Target coordinates determined, artilleries on your position, prepare… FIRE!
In Vietnam, we don’t use the phrase “Khai hỏa” like in War Thunder for the crew. It’s long, mechanical, and unnatural. Moreover, it’s actually a Sino-Vietnamese word, not native Vietnamese. We just use one decisive, loud word: “BẮN !!!”
We don’t use position codes or ciphers like the US or NATO, for example: Alpha, Delta, Charlie… No, no…
We usually just read the exact coordinates that need artillery fire, as in the example above, when requesting artillery support.
In the video link I provided, I was truly horrified to see translation errors in the game, which even included coordinates like “Khách sạn” (hotel in English) and “Ấn độ” (India) at 0:34–0:35.
What the hell? Vietnam is calling for artillery strikes on “hotel” and “Indian”?
When responding to orders or requests from a unit during combat, our military doesn’t say “Đã hiểu – understood” like in the game.
We say one word, loud and clear to the best of our ability: “RÕ !!!”
This word is similar to “YES SIR” in English.
We usually speak concisely, not in the elaborate and lengthy way War Thunder presents.
At 0:42 in the video, there are lines announcing the arrival of enemy air forces (CAS).
In the game, they say “Không lực đang đến”… - Airforce in coming 🤡
What, really?
“Không lực” in Vietnamese is just a noun, not a verb — “airforce ≠ air strike.”
And the term “không lực” was mostly used by the puppet government in South Vietnam set up by the US in the past. We no longer use this term — not necessarily due to ideology — it’s just a Sino-Vietnamese term “100%.”
Instead, we usually shout to warn allied units: “MÁY BAY ĐỊCH !!!” or “CÓ MÁY BAY ĐỊCH !!!”
- ENEMIES AIRCRAFT !!! - ENEMIES THREAT !!!
Next are the crew lines when starting the vehicle…
My vestibular disorder almost flared up when I heard “Cài dây an toàn” - fasten your seat belt (2:19) in a tank. What the hell is this? Since when did tanks turn into cars in War Thunder?
At 2:44–2:45, in the Vietnamese military, we are trained on different types of ammunition, including sabot rounds, but we don’t use NATO terminology and instead call out each type directly.
For example, in the game they say “Nạp sabot” - “load sabot.” But in real life we say “Đạn xuyên !!!” or “Nạp đạn xuyên !” - (Load piercing ammo !)
We usually don’t distinguish ammo types; we group them by their characteristics.
“Đạn xuyên !!!” is the name for all armor-piercing rounds. “Đạn nổ !!!” (HE ammo) is the name for all explosive rounds, including HEAT.
However, I have no idea what “Nạp đạn hộp” (2:48) literally translated as “Load Box Ammo” means in the Vietnamese crew lines in War Thunder.
And “Bắn pháo sáng” - (“firing flare” in English) at 2:49–2:50, is just ridiculous…
We don’t say that. We say “Phóng đạn khói” or “Đạn khói !!” - a.k.a smoke hiding system.
Next is the most important part.
We usually read the firing command out loud when spotting a target, including the main components: first, estimate the type or class of the target, next, the distance from the vehicle to the target, and finally the angle or direction. Sometimes the commander may request different ammunition types, but in War Thunder, that’s probably unnecessary.
We also don’t spell out distances as in the game; we just say them quickly (nine-hundred meter).
For example, when spotting a tank at 800 meters, 3 o’clock, the crew would say sequentially:
Commander: “Tăng địch, cự ly 800, góc 3 giờ”
- Enemy tank, distance 800 (eight hundred), 3 o’clock
fired
Gunner : “Trúng !!!” or “Trúng rồi !” (Hit or Hit target)
In the game, this is only half accurate. If the target is destroyed, the gunner or commander will say the command: “Mục tiêu đã bị tiêu diệt !” - (Enemy target kill)
From 4:20 to 5:06, they are saying something that even a Vietnamese, cannot understand.
In short, if War Thunder needs it, we are willing to provide support for voice, translation, and scripts, free of charge. Please don’t do things that sound sloppy and silly like this.
Thank, and I hope for future corrections.
As I said, they decided to use AI to translate the language and script into Vietnamese instead of first consulting AI about context and how to localize the script correctly in Vietnamese. Truly baffling…