For protection against ammunition explosions, the four tons of Thunderbolt ammunition is protected by CASE II. To offset this loss of speed, the C4 mounts six Anderson High Propulsion 12s Improved Jump Jets. The XL engine is smaller than the standard Thunders engine, reducing the top speed to 64 km/h. It also mounts three Ceres Arms ER Medium Lasers and a single Ceres Arms Model X Medium X-Pulse Laser for close combat.
The primary weapon on the Thunder is the massive Kali Yama Big Bore Autocannon/20 which is capable of devastating most lighter 'Mechs with a single shot. This balanced mix makes the Thunder a valuable asset on the modern battlefield.
Its weapons payload, and the design in general, uses a mix of advanced and off the shelf parts. The 'Mech is well protected with thirteen and a half tons of armor. The Thunder also uses double heat sinks to make it capable of handling a high heat load from its weapons systems. This was done by building the 'Mech around a Magna 350 XL engine to maximize the available weight in the 'Mech. The 'Mech was built to make the most of new technologies that had made their way to the Capellan Confederation at the beginning of the 3050s. The Thunder is a product of the aftermath of the Fourth Succession War.