[Coming Soon] USS South Carolina: Titan with a Nuclear Heart

The Big and Medium trophies contain an American missile cruiser with ASROC anti-submarine missile-torpedoes.

Historical note

The California-class cruisers trace their origins to the first American nuclear-powered cruisers of the 1960s – Long Beach, Bainbridge, and Truxtun. Designed as a new generation of aircraft carrier group escorts, this class aimed to surpass earlier projects. However, high costs limited production to just two ships: USS California (CGN-36) and USS South Carolina (CGN-37).

These cruisers served as a transitional bridge between the early nuclear-powered “giants” and the later, more advanced Virginia-class cruisers.

USS South Carolina (Rank VI)

SWOT Analysis

Strengths: A powerful, well-balanced arsenal including Harpoon and Standard guided missiles, ASROC missile-torpedoes, automatic 127 mm guns, and ECM systems.
Weaknesses: Modest top speed and average survivability.
Opportunities: An ideal allied support ship, capable of delivering comprehensive, all-round anti-ship defense.
Threats: Saturation attacks from anti-ship missiles and coordinated torpedo salvos at medium range.

In battle

With the next update, the guided-missile cruiser USS South Carolina arrives as a top-rank vessel in the American fleet in War Thunder Mobile. Designed to escort carrier groups, this new “missile boat” will be among the most heavily armed ships of its class in the game.

The USS South Carolina’s primary strength lies in its versatile and highly effective armament. Its main weapons are guided missiles, including powerful Harpoon anti-ship missiles (AShMs) and fast Standard surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), which can also engage enemy surface targets. The ship is further equipped with two automatic, rapid-fire 127 mm guns mounted fore and aft, making it especially effective in duels with other missile cruisers. The cruiser also carries two 324 mm torpedo launchers mounted within the superstructure, one on each side. Finally, the newly introduced ASROC anti-submarine rocket torpedoes provide a strong counter to submarine threats.

Remember that the USS South Carolina can jam incoming enemy missiles targeting both itself and its allies. Activate the ECM in time to suppress airborne missiles using electronic countermeasures!

Like all missile ships, USS South Carolina lacks any significant armor. Its large size makes it an easy target if caught off guard. While its mobility is average and sufficient to keep pace with allied groups, operating alone is extremely risky.

The USS South Carolina performs best at the center of an allied formation. Its primary role is to control key avenues of approach, protect friendly ships, and engage high-priority enemy targets with missiles. Avoid being drawn into close-quarters combat on your own – your true strength lies in supporting the team.

Premium version of the USS South Carolina (Rank VI)

In the Ship Campaign, only one ship can be taken into battle. Because of this, the Premium version of any ship is not a separate unit, but it completely replaces the standard “gray” version. After obtaining the premium version, the blueprints for the standard version of the ship will disappear from the store and trophies, and the ship itself will become unavailable in trophies and jackpots.

Differences between the Premium and Standard versions:

the ability to get gold after a battle, according to the daily limit;
unique premium camouflage;
fully unlocked upgrades in the Arsenal;
the ship gets the maximum crew level immediately.

Premium version of the vehicle:

As a jackpot or as a random reward when attempting to open the Big Trophy.
By reaching the top-10 in the relevant Leaderboard.
From the Collector's Trophy after adding the vehicle to this trophy type;
In Special Offers.

Standard version of the vehicle:

As a jackpot or as a random reward when attempting to open the Medium Trophy.
Order vehicles for Silver Lions after collecting 1,000 blueprints.

Ways to get blueprints:

From the Medium Trophy: 700 pcs in the guaranteed reward, or 10 to 100 pcs per attempt.
From the Big Trophy: 700 pcs in the guaranteed reward, or 80 to 200 pcs per attempt.
In the in-game store: purchase for Silver Lions a Folder with a number of blueprints (even after the season ends).
In special offers.

*Vehicle specifications and camouflages are still work in progress and may differ on release.

The USS South Carolina (Rank VI) can be obtained in War Thunder Mobile (WTM) from Medium or Big Trophies in the Ship Campaign with the start of the new Season.