Described in the film as having "NORDOC-NATO armor." Blue Thunder had a chin turret with an electric six-barrel rotary cannon capable of a rate of fire of 4,000 rounds per minute. Surveillance used twin cheek-mounted Nitesun spotlights, infrared thermograph, and airborne TV camera with 100:1 zoom and night-vision capability. The cameras fed videotape, with a locker in the belly of the aircraft. External audio pickups were capable of hearing "a mouse fart at two thousand feet". A "whisper mode" granted it the ability to operate in silence. It also has a "Turbine boost", a turbo boost function giving Blue Thunder increase speed, in the film it used it to help perform a 360° loop.