Siege Thunderbird: Release date, loadout, gadgets, unlock price, more

Mina "Thunderbird" Sky, Rainbow Six Siege's latest operator, has been officially revealed and slated for release this June as a part of the North Star expansion.

Thunderbird is a Defending Operator that comes from Canada, representing the indigenous Nakoda people, and her design features traditional warrior tattoos on her chin.

She is primarily a medic, but according to her biography, she has studied "water storage, wastewater, and river management" and in her reveal trailer, she can be seen piloting  AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant helicopter, indicating that she is a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue Squadrons.

With all that being said, let's check out her gameplay features and other details.

Operator Thunderbird gadget Kóna Station

(Picture: UbiSoft)

Thunderbird's unique gadget is called the Kóna Station.

The Kóna Station is a defensive turret that serves as a healing station to any operators.

Upon deployment, it will start shooting out healing shots, targeting any operator within its range, but prioritizing operators with the lowest amount of health.

• A single charge heals for 30 health after which it enters a short cooldown to recharge.
• Defenders will see its cooldown, while Attackers can only see a cone of blue light as an indication that the next charge is ready.
• It can target both Defenders and Attackers but will prioritize the Defender if there are both an Attacker and a Defender in its radius.
• It can overheal (indicated with the blue bar) but any health above an operator's HP will slowly wear off over time until it disappears.
• If an Operator is within its radius and line of sight, the Kóna Station can fire healing shots through holes as well.

Asides from the healing shots, the Kóna Station has another functionality. The Kóna Station can revive any downed operators, but they need to come to its radius and manually activate the charge.

If you are an enemy and want to destroy or disable the Kóna Station, you can achieve that by using Thatcher's EMP Grenades, Twitch's Shock Drone, Kali's LV Lances, Zero's Argus Cam lasers, or any gunfire/explosions in general.

The Kóna Station pairs greatly with defensive gadgets such as Deployable Shields, Jäger's ADS or Wamai's MAG-NETs.

Operator Thunderbird Loadout

(Picture: UbiSoft)

Thunderbird comes equipped with the following gear:

Operator Thunderbird price and release date

Operator Thunderbird will be a part of the Operation North Star expansion, which is set to be released in June of 2021. The exact date is yet to be revealed.

• Read more: Siege to test 'Gameplay After Death' system allowing players to use drones when dead

When it comes to the cost of unlocking Thunderbird, the operator can be unlocked for either 25,000 Renown or 600 R6 Credits.