The Federation needed to rebuild quickly after being badly mauled in the chaos of the FedCom Civil War. They approached Kallon Industries, asking them to refit the existing old-tech Wolverines into something that could fight on the modern battlefield. Kallon originally refit BattleMechs only on Talon but when the number of Wolverines awaiting a refit swamped the capabilities of even that megaplex, they shipped a large number to Nanking for refitting.
         After the Jihad started, Syrtis Federation placed an order for more upgraded Wolverines than Kallon had access to, so they began building the BattleMechs from scratch on both Talon and Nanking. When Nanking fell to Tikonov during the St. Ives War, the Ridziks chose not to interfere in Kallon's business. Their only stipulation was that all Wolverines built on Nanking use equipment built in the Tikonov Free Republic. Because of this, BattleMechs built on Nanking have some minor performance differences to those built on Talon.

         The WVR-8D carries a sophisticated Targeting Computer that improves the efficiency of its main weapons. A RAC in the right arm gives it impressive damage potential, while a head-mounted ER medium laser brings a decent amount of direct damage to the enemy. A Streak missile system allows the Wolverine to scatter-shot the enemy much like the RAC, but weighs much less. An upgrade kit allows purchasers to remove the Streak targeting system from the missile tubes in favor of a C3 slave, but that version is never produced in the factory. CASE protects the 'Mech from total destruction should the ammunition explode while still inside it, but the XL engine that makes the design's mobility and firepower possible causes such an action to disable it until techs can repair the shielding. Still, the Wolverine has impressive speed and a good jump capability, making it highly prized by many buyers.

         Wolverines on both Talon and Nanking are primarily sold to worlds once in the Federated Suns. The Syrtis Federation is by far the largest user of the design, though the Federated Suns Mercenary Command is known to make widespread use of it.