[ad_1]
In context: War Thunder is a combat simulation game that takes realism very seriously, but apparently not as seriously as some of its players. In 2019, the game came to include the Challenger 2 main battle tank. It took on a central but polarizing role in the virtual battlefield, and the accuracy and balance of its characteristics became a point of contention among gamers. .
Last week, a player with the username Pyrophoric won a discussion on the War Thunder forums when he posted schematics of the Challenger 2 from his Army Equipment Support Publication (AESP), a sort of manual for use. He has shown that in real life, the tank is less vulnerable to fire at the junction between its turret and its hull than it is in play.
The EFSA had the “UK Restricted” labels crossed out and replaced with “Unclassified” stamps – note that the UK generally refers to documents that were previously classified, but are no longer classified, as “declassified” and not “unclassified”.
Forum moderators immediately found the post suspicious, and one pointed out that “the last time such a document was claimed to be ‘unclassified’ it was in fact still filed.”
Which begs the question: how often does this happen?
Gaijin, the developer of War Thunder, contacted the UK Ministry of Defense and learned that the Challenger 2’s AESP was still classified. “I can confirm that this is an authentic extract,” said a representative of the Ministry of Defense. One of the main moderators of the Gaijin forum addressed Pyrophoric with the following statement.
“We have written confirmation from the Ministry of Defense that this document remains classified. By continuing to broadcast it you are breaking the Official Secrets Law as indicated by the disclaimer on the cover of the document, an offense of up to 14 years in prison You are already aware of this, as a military man, you have signed a statement stating that you understand the act and the actions it requires you to take.
Anytime you post this you are putting us (Gaijin International Representatives), especially any UK citizen, in hot water as the warning so helpfully states that unauthorized retention of a protected document is an offense. “
Pyrophoric hasn’t posted since, although he is online. At the time of writing, her account is still active and enjoys an “exceptional community reputation”, according to the forum’s popularity-based rating system. On his profile, Pyrophoric says he is a 40 year old male. He claims to be a former Commander of Challenger 2, an Army instructor, and a former member of the Armor Development and Testing Unit.
Unfortunately, Gaijin did not take this opportunity to make his Challenger 2 model more accurate and said he did not plan to update it. Several players managed to complain before the Challenger 2 thread was closed to prevent further security holes.
Image Credit: Cpl Ross Fernie RLC
[ad_2]
Source link