Thunderbird was primarily intended to attack higher altitude targets at ranges up to approximately 30 miles (48 km), providing wide-area air defence for the Army in the field.

Thunderbird had performance similar to other semi-portable missiles like the US MIM-23 Hawk and fully mobile Soviet 2K11 Krug, although it pre-dates both of these systems.

All of these were handed to the Ministry of Supply (MoS) with the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) providing technical direction.

From their work the LOPGAP experimental design emerged, short for "Liquid Oxygen and Petrol Guided Anti-aircraft Projectile".

[2] The Navy's initial design was reformulated several times as the threat evolved from propeller-driven medium bombers to jet-powered strike aircraft, but remained largely the same in terms of performance; it called for a missile using beam riding guidance on the Navy's Type 909 radar with range on the order of 30,000–60,000 yards (17–34 miles) and capability against subsonic aircraft.

[2] The RAE was interested in seeing ramjet technology applied to this role, and asked de Havilland to submit an entry for Seaslug as well.

[2] The GAP committee also considered the needs of the Army and Air Force, based on the same technology but aimed at higher performance aircraft and longer ranges on the order of 100,000 yards (57 miles).

This meant new Gun Laying radars would have to be developed for this role, and that, in turn, led to a re-evaluation of the Red Heathen concept.

Red Heathen re-emerged in 1949 as a semi-active radar homing system with the same required range as Seaslug.

[2] These would fill the Stage 1 requirement, along with existing early warning radars and the Gloster Javelin interceptor aircraft.

The original Red Heathen concept for a much longer-ranged weapon became "Green Sparkler" and then "Blue Envoy", and relegated to Stage 2 deployment in the 1960s along with newer radars and interceptor aircraft.

In the Territorial Army (United Kingdom) 457th (Wessex) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery also used Thunderbird.

In the case of the Thunderbird, the "Stage 1½" design was known as "Green Flax", and after some paperwork with that name on it was lost and assumed compromised, "Yellow Temple".

The boosters lost their asymmetrical nose cones, but the surfaces on the end of their fins grew much larger.

A Thunderbird nose cone and parts of main body on display at Predannack Anti-Aircraft Battery and museum, Cornwall, UK A Thunderbird without launch pad can be seen at Capel Military Show, Surrey UK Two of the Finnish missiles survive, one missile is located in Museo Militaria, Hämeenlinna,[7] another in the Anti-aircraft Museum, Tuusula.