The Douglas Bomber 7 (DB-7) family was one of the great combat aircraft in history, and War Thunder offers three of them. In game you will see the Havoc Mk I in the UK Premium tree. Hidden in the same tree, unless you have one, are the Premium Boston Mk I and French DB-7, rare beasts offered during special events, however all are nearly identical to the visible Havoc with negligible differences in weapons and speed.

A Tier I light bomber with a BR of 1.7/1.7/2.0 (AB/RB/SB) (French DB-7 is T2, 2.3/2.3/2.3 with greater reward bonus), it is well situated against its opponents, as its high speed, impressive maneuverability for its size and decent armament make it a threat to fighters too. It has 4 count .303 (7.7mm) Brownings in the cheeks of the nose (500 rounds each), with an upper and lower defensive installation of a .303 (7.7mm) Vickers K machine gun, both with a good selection of ammo belts (French versions substituted the comparable MAC 1934 machine gun in all positions). The bomb loads on all 3 are the same 500lb (227kg) bombs, effective on a wide variety of targets; their failing is only carrying 4 of them and nothing else. With all 3 being premium off the bat your only decision is what ammo belt to load. The copious amounts of armor is a bonus, one could almost mistake it for a tank!

If facing one of these be cautious. It has just enough teeth to be a danger, and the armor is enough to make crew kills difficult. Your best bet will be to focus on the unprotected engines and control surfaces.

In short, this is one of the best ground attack aircraft in game. Although carrying only 4 “eggs”, it does enjoy the 3rd-person bomb reticle so precision drops are easy; reserve softer targets for the machine guns. If you are really aggressive it is a passable heavy fighter, provided you engage with an advantageous position. It is also rugged enough to survive head-on attacks, however the 4 MGs may not have the punch to give you the kill either. Performance-wise it is slightly inferior to the Bf 110, but the same tactics apply.

Author: Joe “Pony51” Kudrna