USA Air Tree Order: What to Research First in War Thunder

The USA aviation tree is the all-rounder tree — strong at almost every battle rating, with the deepest jet line in the game. Its trap is the opposite of Britain’s: so many good lines that players spread too thin and end up with a weak lineup at every BR. What follows is the actual early aircraft worth rushing, plus how each one flies, not a copy-paste list of all 200 planes.

The US tree is built around altitude and speed, so the order below assumes you dive rather than turn. Start with the air first lineup guide for the general method, and use the nation pick guide if boom-and-zoom is not a habit yet.

The starter line that teaches the style

Your first real trainer is the P-40 Warhawk (Rank I–II). It is the first US plane that flies the way the whole tree eventually does: decent dive, hard-hitting .50 caliber guns, and survivable. Learn to attack from speed and extend away — the P-40 punishes players who try to turn with a Zero. The earlier F4F Wildcat is slower but rugged and climbs well; the P-39 Airacobra is a low-altitude specialist with a 37 mm cannon through the nose and poor high-altitude performance, so keep it down low.

The lines worth rushing (with the planes in them)

• F6F Hellcat → F4U Corsair line — the carrier standard. The Hellcat is the forgiving workhorse that teaches boom-and-zoom safely; the Corsair is faster and harder-hitting but demands runway discipline because its low-speed handling is poor. Both are natural first lines and stay competitive deep into props.
• P-47 Thunderbolt line — a heavy, fast, hard-hitting platform with a wall of .50s and strong ground-attack potential. It turns poorly, so it lives and dies by the dive. A great second line once you can fly energy.
• P-51 Mustang line — the icon. Balanced, excellent at high altitude, bubble-canopy visibility, and a natural late-prop goal. Ride the Corsair or Hellcat up first, then the P-51.
• P-38 Lightning — twin-engine, turbocharged, superb high-altitude energy retention. Different to fly (boom from altitude, watch your six), but a top-tier prop once mastered.
• Jet line (P-80 Shooting Star → F-84 → F-86 Sabre) — USA’s early jets are competitive and the F-86 is a classic first jet that teaches jet energy fighting cleanly.

Research priority order

1. P-40 (or F4F) first — your trainer and your backbone; learn speed-attack here.
2. Next mark in that line — Hellcat → Corsair, or straight up the P-47 if you want punch. US successive props are genuine improvements.
3. P-51D once the line is stable — the plane that makes the tree click.
4. A premium at your target BR — a premium plane earns RP and SL for the whole tree. See how the economy works.
5. P-80 / F-86 once props are solid — your first jet.

Traps

• Don’t research all four prop lines at once — you get a thin lineup everywhere.
• USA props favour boom-and-zoom, not turn-fighting. If you love turning, the Britain tree fits better — weigh all four in the nation choice guide.
• A high-BR jet with no mid-BR support is a lone wolf. Keep your battle rating spread tight.

Follow the sequence in the in-game tech tree itself, since patches rearrange it. The point is: ride the Corsair/Hellcat line, use a premium to accelerate, then diversify — not to memorise a list.