AH-64D Apache is the newest War Thunder forum leaks victim

Finally something other than a war plane again

You may ask yourself if War Thunder players leaking restricted military documents on the official forum of the game is still newsworthy since it happens so often, and that’s completely fair. Here is the thing: No matter how often it happens, the fact that players are so desperate to win forum debates or have developers add authentic details that they’re willing to post restricted information will always be hilarious. It also gives us an excuse to dive into interesting military hardware.

With that out of the way, meet our newest victim: The AH-64D Apache Longbow, a variant of the infamous Apache attack helicopter manufactured by Boeing.

The Longbow sensor package, from which the AH-64D gets its nickname, sits in the "hat" above the rotor blades / Steve Lynes (CC BY 2.0)

It takes its name from the Longbow radar and fire-control system installed on it, which allowed for better target acquisition and tracking – data, which crucially could be shared with troops on the ground, allowing them to fight more effectively. This gave the Apache more powerful recon capabilities, adding to its formidable arsenal of weapons. The first AH-64Ds were delivered in 1997, more than ten years after the original versions had been put into service.

A user of the War Thunder forum posted a technical manual for this attack helicopter on the site. Just like with the recent incidents around the Eurofighter Typhoon and F-117 Nighthawk, this was not a classified document. However, it was marked as restricted, being only for the eyes of members of the Department of Defense or any contractors of the Department of Defense – while some of those may have been around on the War Thunder forums, most users do assuredly not fulfill those conditions.

“Export restriction still applies, meaning it should not be shared or used without legal permission,” a community manager on the forum wrote.

The last leak of documents that had actually been confirmed as classified happened back in 2022. The Apache leak breaks a string of incidents revolving around fighter jets, which started with documents regarding the F-16 being posted earlier this year, so it’s nice to get some variety.

War Thunder is a free-to-play game available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and mobile devices.

War Thunder leaks are hilarious, but not a security risk