Hunter Swarm

"The Hunter Swarm represents the best in squadron technology through the study and implementation of Xeno Division research."

General
The Hunter Swarm is a powerful squadron that deals Alien Damage, essentially an upgraded Ranger Swarm. It is only usable on Xeno Division Hulls and A.X.I.S. Hulls.

Notably, it has a much wider flanking angle than other ship squadrons, comparable to that of the Spectre Wing.

Advantages
Hunter Swarms have the range of Ranger Swarms, the speed of Gladiator Swarms, and increased health and damage output.

Hunter Swarms flank their enemies almost directly from the sides, enabling them to evade incoming fire by re-targeting other opponents in front or behind the main target relative to your Paladin Carrier.

Hunter Swarms' Alien damage makes them effective against ships that don't have an innate resistance to it, like all Tier 5 ships and below, and Pharmakon ships.

Disadvantages
Hunter Swarms severely lack health compared to drones such as the Bluetail Drone, making them easy to take out by Xeno Division Ship Weapons. They are also poor in damage, although they take up much less mass as a result.

Xeno Division, A.X.I.S. and Umbra ships have an innate damage resistance to Alien damage (40-50% in XD ships, and 50% in the latter two), hence this swarm is rather ineffective in Tier 6 combat. Altairian ships can also resist from 10% to up to 50% Alien Damage when fully upgraded.

Trivia

 * The Hunter Swarm is the fastest player-obtainable ship squadron, with the same speed as Fighter Squadrons and Gladiator Swarms.
 * The Hunter Swarm is the first Alien Damage ship squadron obtainable by players.
 * It is simply a recolored Ranger Swarm.
 * Along with other T6.5 equipment, this item's build time was significantly reduced during the late April 2019 update as summarized here.