War Thunder previews the Leopard 2A8 with Trophy active protection for Germany and Sweden

Gaijin Entertainment has shown off the Leopard 2A8 in a War Thunder dev blog. It’s a Rank VIII main battle tank (MBT), and it will arrive for both Germany and Sweden in the Eagle’s Shadow major update. The source doesn’t give a release date.

What the tank brings

The 2A8 is the direct successor to the Leopard 2A7 variants already in the game. Gaijin’s headline feature is the Israeli Trophy active protection system (APS), aimed at guided missiles.

The at-a-glance list covers:

• Trophy APS
• DM53 APFSDS rounds
• A good level of protection
• GEN 3 thermal imagers

The stock APFSDS round penetrates well. Once you unlock the better DM53, Gaijin says the tank can penetrate almost any part of the strongest opponent on the battlefield.

It’s heavy, and mobility is somewhat reduced compared with the more agile 2A4 and 2A5 models. Gaijin still calls it highly competitive at top tier. Armour upgrades include an internal spall liner, extra frontal hull armour and added composite modules on the sides.

How Trophy works

If you’ve used the Merkava Mk.4M or the M1A2 (Trophy-HV), the system will be familiar. It warns you of an incoming missile and intercepts it automatically with countermeasure projectiles placed around the turret.

There are 6 charges, giving all-around protection against anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) launched from the ground or air. Gaijin’s developer comment says it’s mainly meant to help against helicopters and ground-based ATGM launchers.

Germany and Sweden

Sweden gets the Leopard 2A8 variant configured for the Norwegian Army. Gaijin’s history section notes the first production-standard tanks for Germany and Norway were unveiled in Munich on November 19th 2025.

Gaijin adds that vehicle specifications may be revised before the tank is added to the game.