War Thunder Fan Leaks Classified Military Docs In Forum Argument

Look, we've all been in heated online arguments at some point. Twitter, Facebook, Xbox Live chat, take your pick here. However, even by those lofty standards, one War Thunder fan took this to a new level. No matter how badly you want to make your point, maybe don't breach the UK's Official Secrets Act in doing so.

This incident revolved around the Challenger 2, a third-generation British MBT. Speaking on developer Gaijin Entertainment's message boards, a user currently known as Pyrophoric - who's said to be a Royal Tank Regiment commander for the United Kingdom - claims this interpretation was not correct, stating:

As I’ve stated a fair few times now, the complexity of the construction is sometimes difficult to see/show with pictures. It is so complex in [the Challenger 2’s] case that I don’t completely blame Gaijin from getting it incorrect. All I try to do is point out the areas where they are incorrect.

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War Thunder Fan Leaks Classified Military Docs In Forum Argument

Offering a more detailed explanation in their next post, they included altered screenshots of Challenger 2 documents from the official Army Equipment Support Publication (AESP). Unsurprisingly, those documents have since been swiftly removed by Gaijin Entertainment, who received written confirmation from the Ministry of Defence that the information violates the Official Secrets Act.

Specifically, one moderator called Templar offered an explanation, which you can read below:

We have written confirmation from [the Ministry of Defence] that this document remains classified. 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 unauthorized retention of a protected document is an offense.

Legally, Gaijin Entertainment cannot make changes based off classified information, so they've confirmed that the Challenger 2 will remain as is. Having removed the offending materials, that thread's since been closed and Pyrophoric was issued a warning.