The Raptor is a direct upgrade over to the Thunderbolt as explosive missiles are more effective against buildings. They share their behavior in that they will fly to a single target, attack it, then quickly escape, but the Raptor has much higher damage, speed (thus reducing potential damage caused to the unit), and most importantly, it's targeting. The Raptor is not limited to just buildings, and can be directed against anywhere on the ground, making it useful even against enemy units in a pinch, as well as devastating buildings caught in the blast. All comes at just an additional 50 in terms of platoon capacity. It also has a squad count of 5, meaning that a full group of Raptors can wreck more havoc in a single run.