Facepalm: In what has become a weirdly common occurrence, restricted military documents have once again been leaked on the War Thunder forum. The latest reveal saw classified data related to the Eurofighter Typhoon's radar systems being posted by a user, who has been suspended for their actions.
War Thunder added the Eurofighter Typhoon to the multiplayer game earlier this month. In the real world, the twin-engine, supersonic fighter is primarily used by the UK, German, Italian, and Spanish air forces.
As is so often the case when new vehicles are added to the excellent free-to-play game (download it safely here), there were arguments on the War Thunder forum about just how realistically the Typhoon is represented.
The scanning capabilities of the aircraft's CAPTOR radar system were one point of contention, leading to a certain user posting restricted material in an attempt to prove their argument.
As reported by UK Defence Journal, the Italian Ministry of Defence, whose documents may have been cited, has previously stated that manuals like these are excluded from public access for both security and commercial reasons.
As with similar previous incidents, the material was quickly removed and the poster has been banned from the forum. A community manager warned of the consequences of these actions.
"I will take this opportunity to again remind everyone here, please do not, under any circumstances, try to post, share any sources unless you are 100% certain they are legally declassified and publicly safe for use," they wrote. "We will never handle or use them, and all it does is actively harm any possible future changes being possible by trying to use them. Do not do it. No good will ever come from it for you or the vehicle you are trying to post for."
There are so many classified/export-restricted military vehicle documents posted on the War Thunder forum that these incidents have become a common sight. PC Gamer notes that September saw a technical manual for an AH-64D Longbow, an attack helicopter mostly used by the US Army, posted.
Forum users have also posted the manual for the Eurofighter Typhoon DA7 and technical details on the F117 Nighthawk on the forum this year – all export-restricted information.
These sorts of leaks go back a few years now. Schematics of a Challenger 2 tank were posted in 2021. In 2023, restricted intel about the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft appeared on the forum, as did more than a dozen technical manuals for the F-15E US strike fighter, a vehicle that wasn't even in the game at the time.
In 2021, the War Thunder Instagram page probably said it best: "Please don't send us classified documents, we really don't want to end up chained at the bottom of a disguised CIA cargo ship in international waters."
Classified military documents appear on the War Thunder forums, again
