BACKFIRE transforms into a fast and sleek jet and can reach speeds of up to Mach 3. In jet form he can carry a load of approximately 5000 kg of various types of bombs or guided missiles. In robot form he carries a fast firing gun which emits beams of concentrated electrons. Besides causing a lot of damage on impact, these electron pulses also destroy a lot of his victim's internal circuitry by creating an electrical shock. Backfire's aiming system is directly linked to his eyesight, so that he can shoot everything he looks at. Thereby he hardly ever misses a single shot, and makes him a formidable opponent. He is also the only Transformer who doesn't depend on energon. Back in the early days of the war, he underwent an experimental procedure to install a nuclear fusion system, which could provide him with all the energy he needed. When the lab in which this operation took place was attacked by Autobots, Megatron ordered the lab and everyone in it to be destroyed, so that this technology wouldn't fall into their enemy's hands. Backfire hardly survived the explosion. To revenge Megatron for trying to kill him, he joined the Autobots, although he remained a Decepticon in every circuit, and swore to rejoin the Decepticons as soon as Megatron was killed. Therefore he isn't liked by any of the Autobots, but Optimus Prime has no choice to keep him as much on their site as possible. When he would be fighting against instead of with the Autobots, they wouldn't stand a chance.