Hunter-killer sight

For the Top Cow Productions comic series Hunter-Killer, see Hunter-Killer (comics).

U.S Army sniper team in Afghanistan. The spotter acts as a "hunter" while the shooter acts as a "killer".

Hunter-killer is a military term traditionally used to describe an entity in which the roles of "sensor" and "shooter" are separated. However, in the case of unmanned aerial vehicles, it means the opposite: an aircraft system designed to find, identify and kill its target; the first purpose-designed hunter-killer UAV is the MQ-9 Reaper.

Teams

A hunter-killer team's primary mission is to seek out and destroy the enemy, particularly in contexts where the enemy is attempting to evade detection rather than seek engagement.

Examples include:

• pairs of F-4G "Wild Weasels" and F-16Cs, where the F-4G "hunter" can detect, identify, and locate an enemy's radar and then direct the F-16C's weapons to the site
• M2 Bradley Infantry / Cavalry Fighting Vehicle often "hand off" fire missions to M1 Abrams main battle tanks
• one or more antisubmarine aircraft carriers and a number of escort vessels whose primary mission is to detect and destroy submarines
• Teams of scout and attack helicopters in highly effective "pink teams", such as OH-6 "Loach" or OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopters and the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter during the Vietnam War

Submarines

Smaller submarines tasked with coastal defense are sometimes referred to as "hunter-killers" even though they may not operate in teams with other platforms. The United States Navy and the Royal Navy give their Nuclear powered hunter-killer submarines the hull classification symbol "SSN". Conventionally powered hunter-killer submarines, such as those operated by the Canadian Navy are given the hull classification symbol "SSK".

Aircraft

The USAF Hunter-Killer program is developing tactical unmanned combat air vehicles.

Armoured fighting vehicles

A hunter-killer sight in an armoured vehicle refers to a vehicle commander's sight which is independent of the gunner's sight and main armament. It allows the crew commander to scan an arc separate from the gunner, or for the crew commander to continue scanning while the gunner engages a target. With the press of a button, the crew commander can cause the gunner's sight and the main armament to slew onto his point of aim.

In fiction

• In the Terminator franchise, the term "Hunter Killer" (abbreviated "HK") refers to a series of drone tanks and aircraft used to wage war on humanity.
• In the real-time strategy game StarCraft, Hunter Killers are an elite type of Hydralisk.
• In the game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, a "hunter-seeker" is an unmanned, uncontrollable drone that will hunt down and destroy a random enemy unit or building
• In Star Wars fiction, HK class droids such as HK-47 are droids designed to find and destroy their targets.
• In Halo: The Flood (a novel based on the video game), the UNSC Rocket Launcher is known as the "Hunter-killer" because it is the only weapon effective against Covenant Hunters.
• In Dune, the "hunter-seeker" is a small remote controlled device used for assassination attempts.
• In the 2002 Spider Man video game, Norman Osborne sends "Hunter-Killer" robots to get a sample of Spiderman's blood.
• In The Heroes of Desert Storm, the MH-53J Air Force rescue helicopter also had the role of attracting and locating Iraqi radar as AH-64 Apaches had the role of taking the radar out with anti-radar missiles.

In music

"H-K (Hunter-Killer)" is a song by American band Fear Factory appearing on their album Demanufacture.

"Hunter/Killer" and "Hunter/Killer: Endgame" are songs by Canadian band Quo Vadis appearing on their album Day Into Night.

"Hunter Killer" is a song by Canadian band Annihilator appearing on their album Carnival Diablos.

See also

• Anti-satellite weapon