F35 is easy to miss entirely and awkward to look up once you have, which is a common combination in War Thunder.

Short answer

It matters more than its screen time suggests, which is why it keeps coming up.

  • Read the in-game description once, then ignore it.
  • Expect its role to have shifted at least once across updates.
  • Give a method one honest attempt before deciding it does not work.

War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. The wiki entry is thorough and buries the actually useful part six paragraphs down. Early impressions of it are usually wrong in the same specific way.

How it has changed over time

The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. The in-game description is technically accurate and practically useless. Community shorthand around it has drifted far enough from the original meaning to cause arguments. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

Its role has changed across updates, so older discussion describes something slightly different. It appears in supplementary material in more detail than it does in the game itself. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

What it changes in practice

Its practical value is narrow and real, rather than broad and theoretical. It became noticeably more relevant after a change the patch notes barely mentioned. War Thunder is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

  • Ask what it is for before asking how to get it.
  • It rewards attention rather than preparation.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.
  • Treat wiki trivia sections as trivia rather than mechanics.
  • Do not build a plan around it before you have seen it work.
  • If a menu path does not exist for you, your build is older or newer than the one described.

What it is

There is a persistent myth attached to it that has never been true in any version. It rewards understanding rather than grinding, which is unusual for War Thunder. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. It shows up in more places than its introduction suggests, once you know to look.

Two similarly named things exist, and mixing them up explains a lot of contradictory advice. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. The game introduces it quickly and assumes you picked it up, which is where the confusion starts.

What it is often confused with

If you only remember one thing about it, remember where it appears. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. Whether it is worth going out of your way for depends entirely on how you are playing.

The name is descriptive if you already know what it does, and opaque if you do not. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. It is the kind of thing veterans forget they ever had to learn.

Whether it is worth going out of your way for

Most guides mention it in passing and none of them stop to define it. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. It is more consequential in the late game than the early one, which is why first impressions mislead.

Where people go wrong

  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.

War Thunder FAQ

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Can I miss it?

Where it is missable, that is noted above. Most players meet it without going looking for it.

What is F35 in War Thunder?

The short answer is above. The longer one is that it fills a specific role, and understanding that role explains why it keeps coming up.

Is this still accurate after the latest War Thunder update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Bookmark it if you like, but honestly, once you have done it once you will not need to come back.