Update
'Heavy Cavalry' major update brings heavy tanks and new top-tier vehicles
War Thunder's Update 2.57 puts heavy armour back in the spotlight, alongside new vehicles across every nation and reworked maps.
Gaijin Entertainment released Update 2.57 "Heavy Cavalry" on 24 June 2026, a major update themed around the return of heavy tanks to prominence across the tech trees.
The update added new vehicles for every nation — including modern main battle tanks and top-tier aircraft — reworked the visuals of existing maps, and introduced a new texture-compression system alongside gameplay additions such as carrier arresting gear for naval operations.
As with every major War Thunder update, "Heavy Cavalry" arrived after a public dev-server testing period earlier in the month before going live for all players.