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The French air tree in War Thunder recently got access to the Benelux subtree. The French ground tree also got access to a Dutch vehicle, as the Benelux ground tree might be coming as well. While the French air tree had good vehicles even before the addition of the subtree, it has now gotten a bit stronger. Planes like the Spitfire and Meteor in the lower and mid-tiers, as well as the F-16 variants in the high-tiers, have given a significant boost to France in War Thunder.
In this article, we will look at the five best French planes in this military vehicle combat MMO.
Note: The opinions expressed in this article are subjective and the rankings are in no particular order. We have not taken into account premium or event vehicles.
What are the five best French planes in War Thunder?
1) F4U-7
The F4U-7 is a French fighter/naval aircraft that sits at Rank IV, Battle Rating 6.0. It is a variant of the F4U-4B that you get in the American air tree. It is not a turnfighter and is made for boom-and-zoom attacks and energy fighting.
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The plane is a bit heavy, but it has good energy retention. It has decent acceleration and can reach a maximum speed of around 800 kmph. However, it compresses extremely hard at high speed. Hence, you should be very careful in a dive, or you will not be able to pull up.
The F4U-7 is equipped with four 20 mm M3 cannons, which pack quite a punch. It is an extremely effective CAS aircraft and can carry a large loadout of bombs and rockets to destroy ground targets.
Read more: All new vehicles in War Thunder 'Dance of Dragons' update
2) F-84G-26-RE
The F-84G-26-RE is another American aircraft in the French tech tree. It is an early jet that sits at Rank V, BR 7.7. In Air Realistic Battles, it gets an air-spawn as it is a strike aircraft.
This jet is pretty light and nimble. It has pretty good acceleration and can hold its speed well in a sustained turn. The F-84G does not compress much at high speeds and can outturn a lot of the planes it faces at its BR.
The F-84G is equipped with six 12.7 mm M3 Browning machine guns. The guns do moderate damage at 7.7, but the high fire rate and the large quantity of ammo that the plane gets make up for the lack of damage. The jet can also carry a modest amount of unguided rockets and bombs if you take it out on a CAS role.
Also read: How to get Golden Eagles in War Thunder
3) Mirage 4000
The Mirage 4000 is a twin-engine prototype version of the Mirage 2000. It sits at Rank VIII, BR 13.0 in War Thunder. It is a very capable aircraft at its BR with good flight performance and weapons loadouts.
This French prototype supersonic jet has good acceleration and can keep up with most planes it faces. The delta-wing-with-canard design gives the Mirage 4000 extremely good maneuverability and can outturn most of its opponents quickly. However, the delta wing design also means that it loses speed pretty quickly while turning.
The Mirage 4000 is equipped with two 30 mm DEFA 554 cannons. It can carry the Matra R550 Magic 2 IR-guided missiles as well as the Matra Super 530F and the 530D SARH missiles.
For CAS, it can carry a decent loadout of unguided bombs as well as guided bombs and AGMs.
4) Mirage 2000-5F
The Mirage 2000-5F is one of the two top-tier planes in the French air tree in War Thunder. It sits at Rank VIII, BR 13.7, and is good enough to hold its own in a BR dominated by mostly American and Russian planes.
The jet has a traditional delta wing design and does not have canards. It is a single-engine fighter but is extremely fast and nimble. However, just like the Mirage 4000, it has the ability to outturn its opponents easily in one or two turns, but rapidly starts losing energy after that due to the delta wing design.
The Mirage 2000-5F is also equipped with two 30 mm DEFA 554 cannons. It has a very potent missile kit that includes the Magic 2 IRCCM missiles, the Matra Super 530D and 530F SARH missiles, and the MICA-EM ARH missiles.
If you want to take it in ground battles, it can carry a variety of unguided bombs and rockets, as well as guided bombs and AGMs.
Also check out: 5 best helicopters in War Thunder
5) F-16AM
The F-16AM is a Dutch variant of the F-16A that was added to the French air tree in War Thunder. It sits at Rank VIII, BR 13.7, and is the second top-tier jet in this tree. The flight model of the F-16AM is that of the F-16A, while the weapon systems are similar to the F-16C.
Being a variant of the F-16A, the AM is lighter than the C-variant, making it more nimble and better at dogfighting. It can turn well with other planes and has decent energy retention as well.
The F-16AM is equipped with a 20 mm M61A1 cannon. Its missile kit is the same as the F-16C. It can carry AIM-9L and AIM-9M IR missiles, the AIM-7M SARH missiles, and the AIM-120A ARH missiles. However, unlike the F-16C, it does not get access to HMD for its radar.
It can also carry a decent loadout of unguided and guided ordinances for CAS in ground battles.
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