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Gamers once again prove they will go to any length to win an argument, especially when it comes to proving someone wrong on the War Thunder forums.
“All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.”
The above quote is from the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica, riffing on a line that opens the 1953 Disney film version of the JM Barrie classic, Peter Pan.
Yet, it could just as easily be applied to the fact that we can’t seem to go 12 months without someone eager to get banned from the War Thunder forums for posting restricted military data just to prove a point.
In the most recent case, a fan of the game shared a section of a manual outlining the operating and handling characteristics of the AV-8B and TAV-8B Harrier, a pair of ground attack aircraft in service with the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy.
The documents in question are not strictly classified as such, but they are marked under Distribution Statement C, which means the material is not for consumption by the general public. It’s a fine distinction, and similar material is often widely circulated online regardless of whether it is technically restricted.
However, given the regularity with which restricted or classified material is published to the War Thunder forums, Gaijin, the game’s developer, has strict rules for such content violations. In this case, the forum member was given a temporary ban, and a forum admin removed the content.
Speaking to the UK Defence Journal, an RAF engineer said: “This probably isn’t the biggest leak ever, not at all.”
“These kinds of manuals float around online, especially older ones. But that doesn’t change the fact that if it’s marked as controlled or restricted, platforms like War Thunder have no choice but to take action.”
Restricted material concerning three Russian tanks was posted to the forums in July 2024. In late 2023, documents outlining the operation of the M2A2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle were the subject of a similar ban.
And, sadly, we expect we’ll be back here again, sooner rather than later.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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