USAF Hunter-Killer

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Hunter-Killer is an unofficial project name based upon an Aviation Week & Space Technology article. When USAF releases an official name, this article will be renamed to suit.

The U.S. Air Force's Hunter-Killer program is a series of five tactical unmanned combat air vehicles, one of which will be selected for production in 2007 or later.

The five candidate proposals are:

• Scaled Composites Model 395
• Scaled Composites Model 396
• General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (a variant of the MQ-1 Predator)
• Aurora Flight Sciences/Israel Aircraft Industries Eagle/Heron 2
• Unnamed Lockheed Martin Skunk Works entry

Raytheon has proposed a sixth option, whereby they would offer a combination of sensors, communications systems, and other mission-related systems as a package, and then choose an airframe at a later date. Raytheon's perspective is that, as long as it performs to a minimum set of specifications, the individual airframe is less important than the systems it will carry.

[edit] External link

• "New Concepts Have Emerged for USAF Unmanned Hunter-Killer Aircraft." Aviation Week & Space Technology. September 19, 2004.