War Thunder player leaks classified Eurofighter Typhoon documents amid online argument

UPDATED: Dec 26, 2024 23:05 IST

A 'War Thunder' player recently leaked sensitive and classified military documents to settle a heated argument online about the Eurofighter Typhoon's radar capabilities.

The leak led to some panic in the Italian Ministry of Defence (MoD), with officials scrambling to get the information removed.

According to a report in The Daily Mail, the incident took place during a discussion about the Typhoon's scanning abilities, a feature that was recently added to the game.

As the debate got heated, one of the players posted a document which contained sensitive details about the Eurofighter’s manual and electronic scanning systems.

The move caused an immediate stir, with the Italian MoD swiftly working to have the document removed from the gaming platform.

The user's profile was also suspended, though it's still unclear whether the player was a military member or someone with access to the classified information.

After the leak, a War Thunder community manager took to the forum to remind users about the risks of sharing unauthorized material. "I will take this opportunity to again remind everyone here, please do not, under any circumstances, try to post, share any sources unless you are 100 percent certain they are legally declassified and publicly safe for use," the manager warned. "We will never handle or use them, and all it does is actively harm any possible future changes being possible by trying to use them. Do not do it. No good will ever come from it for you or the vehicle you are trying to post for."

A technical moderator added that the leaked documents had been confirmed as illegally obtained, making them off-limits for reporting or sharing.

The Italian MoD didn’t take the breach lightly and issued a statement that unauthorized disclosures of classified information are "extremely serious."

The ministry confirmed they would review security protocols to prevent future leaks. "This incident will be reviewed and, if appropriate, an investigation will be launched, and mitigations put in place to prevent reoccurrences. We do not comment on leaked documents," a spokesperson said.

Interestingly, this is not the first time War Thunder players have leaked sensitive information online. In 2021, a player posted a Challenger 2 tank manual, forcing the UK's Ministry of Defence to intervene quickly. Developed by Gaijin Entertainment, War Thunder is a free-to-play combat simulator in which players can control historical military vehicles.