Hunter-killer sight

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

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

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 saga, Hunter Killers are a series of various types of unmanned vehicles built in automated factories.

In the real-time strategy game StarCraft, Hunter Killers are an elite type of Hydralisk.

In the game Command and 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, the HK class droids, such as HK-47, are droids designed to find and destroy their targets.

In Halo: The Flood, the UNSC Rocket Launcher is known as the hunter-killer since it's the only effective weapon to use against Covenant Hunters.

In Dune the hunter-seeker is a small remote controlled device used for assassination attempts.

In a novel series by American novelist, Brett Kihlmire, Hunter-Killers are an elite faction of asassins serving as the private army of the Emperor of the fictitious Russian Empire

In music

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

There are also two songs named "Hunter/Killer" and "Hunter/Killer: Endgame" from the album Day Into Night, by the Canadian band Quo Vadis.

"Hunter Killer" is also a song by Annihilator on their Carnival Diablos album.

External links

• HK Tank
• HK Aerial

See also

Anti-satellite weapon