A War Thunder player has been admonished by moderators on the game's official forums for allegedly sharing classified specs for the UK's Challenger 2 tank in an effort to bring the in-game model closer to its real-life counterpart.
War Thunder is a free-to-play game where fighter jets, tanks, planes, and all sorts of other military vehicles battle it out in intense combat. These vehicles are based on their real-life counterparts, but some of the modern vehicles aren't exactly accurate to their real-life counterparts for various reasons. Now, it appears that a War Thunder player may have shared classified information on the game's forums as part of an attempt to get Gaijin Entertainment to make the in-game Challenger 2 model more accurate.
War Thunder Forum Moderator Shuts Down Alleged Sharing of Classified Challenger 2 Tank Specs
As UK Defence Journal reports, classified Challenger 2 specs were allegedly shared on the War Thunder forums and were live on the site for some time before eventually being removed by moderators, one of whom pointed out the legal consequences for sharing a classified document.
"We have written confirmation from [the UK Ministry of Defence] that this document remains classified," read a comment from Senior Technical Moderator "Templar_" on the game's official forums. "By continuing to disseminate it you are in violation of the Official Secrets Act as stated by the warning on the cover of the document, an offence which can carry up to a [14-year] prison sentence if prosecuted. Of this you are already aware, as a service person you have signed a declaration that you understand the act and what actions it compels you to take. Every time you post this you place us (International representatives of Gaijin), especially any UK citizens, in hot water as the warning so helpfully states that unauthorised retention of a protected document is an offence."
The original forum post that allegedly shared the documents has been edited to remove the offending material.
According to conversation in the forum, Gaijin Entertainment is quite careful about any documentation about military vehicles lest it exposes itself to any sort of legal liability. The forum moderator also shared a comment from Abbey Wood of the UK's Ministry of Defence.
"I can confirm that it does appear to be a genuine extract [of the Challenger 2 specifications]..." read Wood's statement. "It certainly has not been released under FOI previously by DE&S or considered for redacting. We also do not recognise the 'Unclassified' stamp as something that has been used in DE&S."
Based on this conversation and UK Defence Journal's reporting, the player in question allegedly placed "Unclassified" stamps on the documents that were not genuine. If true, that would mean that he has committed a serious offense that could result in jail time.
You can play War Thunder for free on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and other platforms via its official website.
What do you think of a War Thunder player allegedly sharing classified Challenger 2 tank specs on the game's forums? What's your favorite tank in the game? Let us know in the comments below!