There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

In most cases the straightforward approach works. The exceptions are specific and listed below.

  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • 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. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of War Thunder.

What to do instead

None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about.

Why it works this way

The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression.

  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Stop and reassess after two failed attempts rather than repeating the third.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.

Worth knowing alongside this

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

When the usual advice fails

Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.

The practical answer

War Thunder is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Where people go wrong

  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.

War Thunder FAQ

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

Why do people disagree about this?

Mostly because they are describing different versions. Version drift explains the majority of contradictory advice about War Thunder.

Is there a faster method?

Sometimes, at the cost of reliability. Where that trade exists it is described rather than recommended blindly.

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