Aircraft Gunnery: Lead, Convergence, Trajectory

Aircraft guns fire projectiles, not lasers. Every shell takes time to reach the target, which means the correct aim point is almost never the target itself — it is the space the target will occupy when your rounds arrive. Pilots who understand this stop missing “hits” and start scoring consistently.

The three variables of lead

Variable	What it changes	How to read it
Range	How far ahead of the target you must aim	Longer range = more lead
Target’s angular motion	How fast the target crosses your view	A crossing target needs more lead than one flying toward you
Projectile speed	How much the target moves during flight time	Varies by gun and ammunition — read the stat card, then confirm with one burst

The instinct to build: lead is a function of how fast the target crosses your canopy, not how fast it is going. A target flying directly at you needs almost no lead no matter its speed; a target crossing your nose at close range needs a lot.

Convergence distance

Your guns are mounted apart, so their streams are not parallel: they converge at a set distance and diverge beyond it. War Thunder lets you set convergence distance, and it should match the range at which you actually fire. Set it too close and your rounds are still spreading at your fighting range; set it far and your shots at close range fly wide of the aim point. For a mix of ranges, most pilots compromise toward the range where they spend most of their firing time. Set it for the range you actually fire at, and re-check after any patch that touches your guns — a convergence set for close work turns long-range bursts into a shotgun pattern.

Trajectory at range

At long range, shells drop. The effect is small at typical dogfight distances and grows quickly past them, which is one more reason snap-shooting at extreme range wastes ammunition. Two habits fix it: prefer to close the distance before firing, and when firing far, aim above the target by an amount that matches the drop — learned by observing where your tracers go, not by formula.

Firing discipline

• Short bursts. Long bursts waste ammunition and give away your position; two or three rounds in the right place beat twenty in the wrong place.
• Track, then fire. Get the pipper on the lead point and hold it for a moment before pulling the trigger — snap-firing at a moving pipper misses.
• Know your break-off range. Decide the distance at which you will stop firing and extend before the merge, so the decision is made before the pass, not during it.

Ammunition choice interacts with all of this: different belts trade penetration, damage, and velocity. The ammunition types guide covers how to choose. And in simulator battles, where the aiming aids are removed, lead and trajectory become pure skill — see simulator air battles.