War Thunder previews new MFD and HMD systems for its next update

Gaijin published a development preview on August 21, 2026 describing new aircraft cockpit displays and helmet mounted displays planned for the next War Thunder major update. The post names several aircraft families and gives examples of the screens and targeting information under development.

This is a development report, not the final release note. At the time of the August preview, Gaijin's Community Update No.12 said that work in progress features could change, be delayed or be cancelled. The screens and systems described below remain development material even though the later live changelog now confirms selected related entries.

The release is no longer open. Gaijin's Sky Odyssey changelog^[1] and major update announcement^[2], both dated September 16, 2026, confirm that the update is live. The changelog names Ka-52 MFD pages, Mi-28NM flight instrument MFD changes, Su-25T and Su-39 HUD updates, F-4J and F-4S VTAS indication updates and a change to HMD visibility when looking at cockpit instruments. It does not restate every aircraft-specific item in the August preview. For the live follow-up, read what changed in Sky Odyssey.

The official preview says that the Ka 52 will receive several new multifunction display pages. The examples listed are a compass page, a flight instruments page, a weapons screen and a radar page.

The preview did not provide a release build or final interface images for every affected aircraft. The later live changelog confirms Ka-52 MFD pages for flight instruments, the compass, weapons and radar, but this article does not turn that partial confirmation into proof that every previewed display shipped in the same form.

Gaijin also says that radar pages will be added to the cockpits of the MiG 21 series, the entire F 104 family, the Japanese T 2 and F 1, the Mirage F1 family and other aircraft. The wording "and others" is important. It means the article cannot treat the list as a complete inventory.

The live changelog is now available, but it does not provide a complete aircraft-by-aircraft reconciliation with this preview's radar list. The named families remain a record of what Gaijin planned in August, not proof that every listed radar page shipped. No claim is made about how the new pages change detection, targeting or combat outcomes.

Alongside the multifunction displays, the preview describes new or improved helmet mounted displays. It specifically mentions a Kaiser helmet mounted display for the RAH 66, new displays for the Chinese JH 7A2 and J 11, and an upgraded VTAS system for American pilots.

The post says that the American VTAS update would include target lock and radar warning indicators around the aiming circle. These details are attributed to Gaijin's development article. The live changelog confirms updated F-4J and F-4S VTAS indications and a change to HMD display visibility, but it does not confirm every HMD example or the exact final interface from the preview.

Cockpit interfaces affect what information a pilot can read during a match, but the official preview does not attach a graphics requirement or a performance result to the changes. RigCircuit has not measured frame rate, frame time, loading time, input latency, network behaviour or visual clarity for the planned displays.

The article also does not convert the feature list into a hardware recommendation. A new cockpit page may change the interface without changing the game's minimum requirements. Readers looking for upgrade advice should wait for an official system requirements change and a documented local test.

The preview also does not settle account or regional conditions. It does not say which platforms or client versions receive the displays first, or whether any aircraft in the list is gated behind a purchase or a research path, and this article does not fill those gaps.

Gaijin's August 21 article was a preview without a launch date. The later Sky Odyssey changelog^[1] is dated September 16, 2026 and records the live update. It also covers broader changes such as Darwin Hill, new vehicles, reward handling and permanent modes. Those later facts belong to the follow-up article rather than replacing the historical purpose of this preview.

The remaining editorial task is comparison, not release discovery. The live page should be used to distinguish named shipped entries from preview items that it does not restate. A full affected-aircraft list and a client-side check remain open.

This historical preview does not establish that every MFD or HMD feature shipped. The later live changelog confirms selected entries, but this article does not claim that a specific aircraft gained a competitive advantage, that a new display improves accuracy or that the update changes frame rate. It does not provide a complete aircraft list or a driver recommendation.

It also does not present the previewed screens as the shipped assets. Gaijin describes work in progress and warns that such work can change, be delayed or be cancelled, so the layouts, the page names and the aircraft list may all differ from the final client.

The selected illustrative hero is self-hosted under the dated WordPress path. Its source, rights record, crop context, credit and hash are in the frontmatter and visual register. It is illustrative media, not evidence of the announced systems.

The article is not an approved keyword brief. There is no News Keyword Planner export in the repository, so the primary keyword remains empty until the owner validates one.

The primary source for the original article is Gaijin's development preview dated August 21, 2026, published on the publisher's own game domain and therefore Tier 1. The supporting Community Update No.12 dated August 18, 2026, supplies the work in progress warning. The September 16 Sky Odyssey changelog and major update announcement are later Tier 1 sources used to correct the release state and to mark partial confirmation of the previewed display work.

The original pages and the later live sources were rechecked on September 19, 2026. The War Thunder community wiki was not used and is not publishable evidence. All preview statements remain attributed to Gaijin and are treated as development material unless the live changelog names the related entry.