War Thunder AW159 Wildcat HMA2 Guide: 20 Martlets, Spike NLOS and the Battle Rating Trade

The AW159 Wildcat HMA2 joins Great Britain at Rank VII in the next major update — a modernised Lynx carrying 20 Martlet missiles and the game's new Spike NLOS ATGMs.

The most useful part of the devblog isn't the missile count. It's the developer comment underneath it. Gaijin states plainly that they considered a different Wildcat: fewer Martlets, no Spikes at all. That version would have sat at a lower Battle Rating, but would have been highly specialised, unable to threaten tanks, and forced to launch everything from very close range. They chose the full arsenal instead.

So this is a deliberately strong helicopter placed deliberately high. You're getting the capability and the Battle Rating that comes with it — which means the SPAA looking back at you is the best in the game. That trade is the single most important thing to understand before grinding toward it.

The 20 Martlet headline, read properly

Twenty missiles in a full loadout is the standout number, and Gaijin leads with it. But read it alongside the guidance method.

Martlets are laser beam-riding, the same principle as the Starstreak and the 9K121 Vikhr. That means the launching helicopter has to hold its beam on the target until impact. Twenty missiles is not twenty quick kills — it's twenty separate windows during which you are stationary, exposed and committed.

They're also not tank killers. Gaijin describes them as suitable for lighter ground and naval targets, and explicitly says heavily armoured MBTs won't fall easily to them. What they will kill is close to everything else on a modern battlefield.

Where that actually matters is air defence. The devblog points at Martlets clearing SAM and SPAA systems, helicopters and light vehicles in the later stages of a match, opening the sky for your team's aviation. That's a support role with real match impact, and it's a more honest description of the Martlet's job than the raw count suggests.

Spike NLOS is the other half

Spike NLOS uses man-in-the-loop guidance, meaning you steer the missile after launch rather than simply designating and holding. It's the accurate, deliberate option against armour, where the Martlet is the volume option against everything else.

Carrying both is what justifies the Battle Rating. The Wildcat can switch roles mid-match based on what the team needs — anti-tank with Spikes, air-defence suppression with Martlets — rather than being locked into one job at spawn. That flexibility is the argument Gaijin makes for the higher placement, and it's a reasonable one.

How Gaijin wants it flown

As an ambush helicopter, not a brawler. The devblog's own guidance:

• Its profile is much smaller than the average top-rank helicopter, which is a survivability advantage rather than a cosmetic note
• It carries a modern RWR and countermeasures
• It should flank the sides of the battlefield, where targets are exposed from the flank or rear
• It retains the Lynx's speed and agility, letting it reach a firing position and leave one quickly

The tension there is obvious. A helicopter built to reposition constantly is carrying twenty beam-riding missiles that each demand you stop and hold. Getting value from a full Martlet loadout means finding flanks where you can afford to sit still — which is a harder skill than the loadout screen implies.

It arrives incomplete

Sea Venom anti-ship missiles are confirmed but not at launch. Gaijin names them in the developer comment and states they'll be added in a future update.

Worth knowing if the naval strike role is what interests you: the Wildcat that arrives in the next major update is not the Wildcat Gaijin has described as finished.

The real Wildcat

The AW159 came out of a requirement to replace the Army Air Corps' Lynx and Gazelle fleets and the Royal Navy's Lynx. A "Future Lynx" programme was under consideration from the 1990s; by the mid-2000s the refurbishment route had been abandoned and AgustaWestland built a new aircraft, redesignated AW159 Wildcat.

It brought a glass cockpit, upgraded radar and sensors, new RWR and countermeasures, and LHTEC CTS800-4N turboshafts giving it more power than the Lynx. It covers anti-submarine warfare, troop transport, anti-surface warfare and tactical reconnaissance. The Army Air Corps flies the AH1; the Royal Navy flies the HMA2 — the variant coming to the game. South Korea, the Philippines and Algeria have also adopted or ordered it.

One note on the comments section. The most-upvoted reply argues the Wildcat should go to Italy as well, on the grounds that AgustaWestland is an Anglo-Italian concern. It's not an unreasonable claim on paper, and Italy's top-tier helicopter lineup is thinner than Britain's — but nothing in the devblog suggests a second tree placement.

What isn't confirmed

The Battle Rating itself, full flight and weapon statistics, whether it arrives as a tech tree vehicle or a premium, the name and date of the major update, and when Sea Venom follows.

Gaijin's own disclaimer applies to all of it: vehicle specifications may be revised and changed before the vehicle is added to the game. Devblog numbers regularly shift between announcement and release, and Battle Rating is the figure most likely to move.

Our Space Program event guide covers the F-16XL event running through 21 September, and our War Thunder news hub tracks each devblog as it lands.

Rank VII helicopters are a grind before they're a decision

A top-rank British helicopter is only useful to an account that can reach Rank VII to fly it, and helicopter lines are among the slower routes in the game. War Thunder boosting covers research, levelling and vehicle unlocks manually through verified players, with payment held until you confirm the work is finished. War Thunder hourly services let you buy grind hours and point them at a specific line rather than a general climb. And if you'd rather already be at the bracket when the update lands, War Thunder accounts state nations, Battle Rating and Silver Lion balance in each listing — check the nation before ordering, since research progress doesn't transfer between trees.

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