Harvester Attacker

The Attacker was the standard attack fighter and small 3 crewed spacecraft designed for aerial combat. It is manufactured by the Aliens in the 1996 film Independence Day.

Technical Readout
The Attacker is a small 3 crewed fighter capable of both air and space travel. Designed to exceed mach 2, the fighter is capable of also out flying a human fighter. The technology aboard give the vessel an extreme edge against other enemy fighters. The underside of the vessel is outfitted with a port and starboard plasma cannon which is mounted on the wings. It's shield generator is designed to protect it from a variety of different weapons including bullets, missiles and possibly their own weapons. The armor of the vessel itself however is not able to withstand hits from the M61A Vulcan mounted on the F/A-18 Hornet, nor can it withstand a direct hit from an AIM-120 AMRAAM Missile.

The vessel is designed with a uniquely designed thruster system which shows no visible thrust. It is however been shown to have been designed with the use of a hovering device that enables it to stay in place. The signal used by the aliens is what causes this thing to activate and the humans couldn't duplicate the power source. The vessel can however be outfitted with the use of human technology as well such as the use of nuclear missiles and some parts of the captured vessel have been replaced with Earth-bound metals. The ship also comes complete with the use of windshield blinds that can be overridden by the aliens, even if they are controlled by human made technology. Shown, it would appear that the pilots of these craft have no use of targeting system, which is what makes them miss their targets.

Independence Day
The fighter wasn't seen until after the attack on every major city in the world and the Black Knight Squadron was to attack the vessel over Los Angeles. It was discovered that the larger vessel had a deflector shield generator which kept them from damaging it with their AIM-120 AMRAAM Missiles. The Attackers began to swarm the Black Knights and it was then realized that the Attackers were outfitted with the same shields. Capt. Hiller and Wilder then made a run for it, however were followed by some unwanted company. One fighter managed to kill Wilder and the other pursued Hiller into a nearby canyon where Hiller managed to outwit the pilot. Upon arriving at Area 51, Dr. Okun and his team were responsible for the rebuilding of an Attacker since the 1960s. It helped them learn more about them, however the power source used was something they couldn't duplicate and therefore giving them no ability to experiment. It was when the aliens came back that the ship became active and that's when they started to look more into the systems of the vessel. Later on, David Levinson assisted Okun and his researchers in their work on the ship, discovering their signal.

After dropping the bomb on an unscathed city destroyer over Houston, David who was drunk at the time was speaking with his father. His father then told him to get off the floor before he caught a cold, leading him to realize how to beat the aliens. He created a computer virus and disabled the captured attacker's shield, giving them a window of only a few minutes before the shields are operational again. The only way to infect all of the vessels was the use of the signal source, which in turn came from the mothership. It's then that Capt. Hiller volunteers for the mission to deliver the virus alongside David.

The Americans then contact other countries, telling them that they have a way to take down the shields of the city destroyers and other craft. This leads to them launching the biggest aerial battle in the history of mankind on Independence Day. President Thomas Whitmore takes flight in an F/A-18 Hornet and leads Eagle Squadron while David and Steve head up to the mothership. Once the virus is uploaded, the vessels lose their shields and therefore leading to the vessels getting damaged. Attackers swarm the others and many are destroyed. Once almost every missile has been fired, the pilots of the Hornets and F-14 Tomcats open up with their machine guns, causing many Attackers to go up in flames.

Later on, the attacker used by David and Steve launches a nuclear payload which will detonate in 30 seconds. Steve pilots the vessel at high speeds and are chased by other attackers. He manages to escape before the doors of the mothership completely close and the nuclear missile goes off. The vessel enters the atmosphere with a nuclear explosion behind them and end up crash landing.