Modern Warfare 4: How to Unlock All Killstreaks

TL;DR

• Modern Warfare 4 has 17 killstreaks at launch, spread across five kill-count tiers.
• Three killstreaks are available from the start: UAV, Artillery Beacon, and Attack Helicopter.
• The rest unlock by reaching specific player levels through multiplayer or DMZ.
• Kill requirements go from 4 kills all the way up to 12 for the two highest-tier streaks.
• Each loadout can carry up to three killstreaks — one per points row.
• The Tactical Nuke sits above the system at 30 kills and is confirmed in the game.
• Hardline (Perk 2, unlocked at Level 4) reduces all killstreak costs by 1 kill.

Killstreaks are one of the most satisfying parts of any Call of Duty multiplayer. In Modern Warfare 4, they are back with a full lineup of 17 options at launch — from a basic UAV all the way up to a heavy assault gunship and a bombing run that locks down the entire sky.

Not all of them are available straight away. Most are gated behind player levels, and the highest ones take serious time to earn. This guide covers all 17 killstreaks, what they do, exactly when they unlock, how many kills each one costs, and which combinations are worth building around.

You can pick up the game on Steam, PlayStation Store, or the Xbox Store.

How Killstreaks Work in Modern Warfare 4

Equip up to three killstreaks before entering a multiplayer match. Earn killstreaks by achieving consecutive kills without being eliminated. Killstreaks unlock after earning 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 eliminations, depending on the killstreak selected. Apply your selected killstreaks to a single custom loadout or across all your custom loadouts.

A few things to know before you start building:

• Three per loadout: Each loadout holds one killstreak per tier. You pick one from the 4-kill row, one from the 6-kill row, and so on. You cannot stack two from the same row.
• Kills and objectives both count: Playing the objective contributes to your streak progress, not just raw kills.
• Hardline cuts costs: The Hardline perk (Perk 2, Level 4) reduces killstreak cost by 1. That means a 4-kill streak becomes 3 kills, a 10-kill streak becomes 9, and so on. Run it early in your progression — it is unlocked from the start.
• Kill Chain stacks on top: The Kill Chain perk (Perk 1, Level 48) means kills made by your killstreaks count toward earning your next one. Stack it with Hardline for maximum chain potential.

Modern Warfare 4 How to Unlock All Killstreaks 1

All Modern Warfare 4 Killstreaks — Full List by Unlock Level

Here is every killstreak in MW4, organized by how many kills it costs, with the player level you need to reach to equip it.

Killstreak	Kills Required	Unlock Level	What It Does
UAV	4	Level 4 (available at start)	Reveals enemy locations on the minimap
Bomb Glider	4	Level 6	Hand-held glider with an explosive payload
Care Package	4	Level 9	Calls in a random killstreak care package to your location
Impact Warhead	4	Level 12	Explosive payload that drills through multiple floors
Artillery Beacon	6	Level 4 (available at start)	Calls in heat-seeking missiles that track the deployed beacon
Crossfire	6	Level 20	Calls in dual airstrikes from both directions simultaneously
Combat Drone	6	Level 26	Remote-controlled anti-personnel drone
Counter UAV	6	Level 31	Scrambles all enemy minimaps
Wheelson	8	Level 16	AI-controlled vehicle that hunts nearby targets or guards the area
Missile Salvo	8	Level 24	Aerial missile platform that fires lock-on missiles
Railgun Sentry	8	Level 38	Electromagnetic cannon firing tungsten flechettes at hypersonic velocity. Deployable as an autonomous sentry
Attack Helicopter	10	Level 4 (available at start)	Overwatch helicopter that provides overhead support and target tracking
Deathstalker	10	Level 35	Remote-controlled helicopter with twin mounted turrets that overheat
Advanced UAV	10	Level 40	Orbital UAV that reveals enemy direction on the minimap in real time. Immune to lock-on
Argonaut	10	Level 45	Equip heavy assault armor with a pump-action cluster grenade launcher and burst-fire sidearm
Gunship	12	Level 51	Heavy assault gunship equipped with 105mm, 40mm, and 25mm cannons
Air Lockdown	12	Level 55	Calls in a series of bombing runs with additional anti-aerial coverage while active

Modern Warfare 4 Killstreaks by Tier — Full Breakdown

4-Kill Killstreaks

These are your bread and butter. Easy to reach, consistent to chain, and useful across almost any game mode. Four killstreaks sit in this tier at launch.

UAV — Unlock: Level 4

UAV recon ship that reveals enemy locations on the minimap. This is the most universally useful killstreak in the game. It benefits your whole team, applies pressure on the enemy, and chains into everything else. Run it on almost every build unless you have a specific reason not to.

Bomb Glider — Unlock: Level 6

Hand-held glider with an explosive payload. You pilot this yourself after deploying. Precise, direct, and very satisfying when it lands. Community votes put the Bomb Glider at the top of the 4-point row. Easy to see why — a 4-kill streak that does direct targeted damage is hard to beat.

Care Package — Unlock: Level 9

Call in a random killstreak care package to your location. High risk, high reward. You might get a Gunship. You might get another UAV. The randomness is the entire point. Fun in casual play, less reliable in competitive.

Impact Warhead — Unlock: Level 12

Explosive payload that drills through multiple floors. This one punishes players who camp indoors. Call it above a building and it will drill through multiple stories before detonating. Great on maps with multi-floor structures.

6-Kill Killstreaks

The middle tier. These start doing real work in terms of disruption and area denial. With Hardline, these only cost you 5 kills.

Artillery Beacon — Unlock: Level 4

Call in heat-seeking missiles that track the deployed beacon. You throw the beacon onto a target area and missiles lock onto it. Effective for area denial and objective play. Available from the start alongside UAV, making it one of your first real mid-tier options.

Crossfire — Unlock: Level 20

Call in dual airstrikes to annihilate enemies from both directions. Two simultaneous airstrikes hitting a zone from opposite angles. Hard to dodge. Good on chokepoints and objective areas.

Combat Drone — Unlock: Level 26

Remote controlled anti-personnel drone. You fly this manually and hunt down enemies. Useful for clearing out a corner or objective before pushing. Requires some skill to pilot effectively but rewards patience.

Counter UAV — Unlock: Level 31

A drone that scrambles all enemy minimaps. This is the team-play pick at the 6-kill tier. Denying the enemy minimap for a sustained period forces them to play blind and rely on sound alone. Pairs well with UAV — you can see everything while they see nothing.

8-Kill Killstreaks

Getting harder to earn, but the payoff is real. These streaks can hold ground, lock down an area, or rack up significant kills on their own.

Wheelson — Unlock: Level 16

AI-controlled vehicle that hunts down nearby targets or guards the area around the owner. The earliest 8-kill unlock. Drop it and let it patrol an area autonomously, or position it to guard a flag or objective. It will hunt and shoot nearby enemies on its own.

Missile Salvo — Unlock: Level 24

Aerial missile platform that fires lock-on missiles. Target an area and it unleashes a volley of lock-on missiles from above. Good for saturating objective zones or clearing groups.

Railgun Sentry — Unlock: Level 38

Electromagnetic cannon that fires tungsten flechette rounds at hypersonic velocity. Deployable as an autonomous sentry. This is the late-unlock surprise of the 8-kill tier. An autonomous sentry that fires a railgun round. Walls do not stop it. Other killstreaks do not easily survive it. Plant it somewhere with sightlines and let it work.

10-Kill Killstreaks

The big hitters. Reaching 10 kills in a row is no small task, but each one of these can swing a round completely.

Attack Helicopter — Unlock: Level 4

Overwatch helicopter that provides overhead support and target tracking. Available from the start despite its high cost. Flies itself over the battlefield, targets enemies, and handles multiple threats at once. One of the more dominant killstreaks if the enemy has no launcher equipped.

Deathstalker — Unlock: Level 35

Remote controlled helicopter with twin mounted turrets that overheat. You pilot this one manually. Two turrets give you serious damage output but they overheat if you hold the trigger down. Manage your fire and this thing dismantles entire teams.

Advanced UAV — Unlock: Level 40

Orbital UAV that reveals the enemy’s direction on the minimap in real time. Immune to lock-on capabilities. This is better than a standard UAV in every way. It shows not just enemy locations but which direction they are facing in real time. And because it is orbital, it cannot be shot down by a launcher. One of the most impactful utility killstreaks in the game.

Argonaut — Unlock: Level 45

Equip heavy assault armor with a pump-action cluster grenade launcher and burst-fire sidearm. This one turns you into the killstreak. You are armored, armed with a grenade launcher, and backed by a burst-fire pistol. Aggressive, chaotic, and brilliant for pushing into an objective.

12-Kill Killstreaks

The hardest to earn and the most destructive in the game. These are endgame rewards that can single-handedly decide a match.

Gunship — Unlock: Level 51

Heavy assault gunship equipped with 105mm, 40mm, and 25mm cannons. Three weapon systems, all of them devastating. You pilot this from above and choose your damage type depending on the target. Vehicles, infantry, objectives — this handles all of it. One of the most powerful streaks in the game when it flies unchallenged.

Air Lockdown — Unlock: Level 55

Call in a series of bombing runs with additional anti-aerial coverage while active. The highest unlock in the game. Bombing runs hit continuously while the streak is active, and the anti-aerial coverage means enemy aircraft called in during this window get knocked out. It both attacks and denies at the same time.

The Tactical Nuke in Modern Warfare 4

The Tactical Nuke sits above the entire killstreak system at 30 kills. Activision shared the Nuke cutscene publicly before the beta launched, and within the first hour of beta access, a player confirmed it in a live match.

The Nuke is not in a loadout slot. It appears automatically when you reach 30 consecutive kills in a match. When called in, it ends the match instantly with a win for your team, regardless of the score at the time. It is rare, but it is very real.

Best Killstreak Combinations in MW4

You pick three killstreaks — one from each kill-count row. Here are the combinations worth building toward.

Best Early-Game Combo (Levels 1–20)

• UAV (4 kills) — Reveals the whole enemy team
• Artillery Beacon (6 kills) — Area denial and objective pressure
• Attack Helicopter (10 kills) — Available from day one despite the high cost

Simple, available immediately, and genuinely effective. UAV into Artillery Beacon is a consistent chain once you have momentum. The Attack Helicopter is a stretch but worth the slots if you are on a run.

Best Balanced Combo (Levels 20–40)

• UAV (4 kills) — Team-wide intel
• Crossfire (6 kills) — Dual airstrike covers chokepoints
• Deathstalker (10 kills) — Manually piloted helicopter with twin turrets

By this stage you have enough options to build a proper chain. UAV + Crossfire flows naturally. If you are protecting objectives, swap Crossfire for Counter UAV at Level 31 to blind the enemy team while your UAV gives your team full visibility.

Best Late-Game Combo (Levels 40–55)

• Bomb Glider (4 kills) — Precise, pilot-controlled explosive
• Counter UAV (6 kills) — Blinds the entire enemy team
• Advanced UAV (10 kills) — Orbital, shows enemy direction, cannot be shot down

Counter UAV plus Advanced UAV is the most oppressive information package in the game. Your team sees everything. Their team sees nothing. Add Kill Chain (Level 48) to start chaining into Gunship territory on a good streak.

Best Kill-Chain Nuke Combo

• UAV (4 kills)
• Counter UAV (6 kills)
• Gunship (12 kills)

Pair with Kill Chain (Perk 1) and Hardline (Perk 2). Kill Chain lets your Gunship kills count toward 30 consecutive. Hardline shaves 1 kill off every tier. If you hit the Gunship and play smart, the Nuke becomes reachable.

Tips for Reaching High Killstreaks Faster

• Use Hardline from the start. It is unlocked at Level 4 and immediately makes 4-kill streaks require only 3 kills. That is a consistent improvement across every single match.
• Play the objective. Objective play counts toward streak progress. Capturing or holding a flag adds to your chain the same as kills do.
• Start small and chain up. UAV at 4 kills feeds into Artillery Beacon or Crossfire. Do not skip the lower streaks chasing the top ones — the chain is the point.
• Equip a Launcher in your Secondary. Enemy killstreaks reset your chain. A PILA or RPG-8 knocks them down before they can erase your progress. Launchers unlock from Level 4 and stay relevant at every stage of the game.
• Ghost blocks UAVs. If enemy streaks keep ending your chain, equip Ghost (Perk 1, Level 24). It keeps you off UAVs, Portable Radars, and Heartbeat Sensors while you build.

For more on the campaign side of the game, check out our COD MW4 all notes and collectibles locations guide. And for a breakdown of every trophy and achievement in the game, see our COD Modern Warfare 4 campaign trophy and achievement list.

Modern Warfare 4 Killstreak Unlock Level Summary

Here is a clean level-by-level view so you know exactly what opens and when as you progress through multiplayer.

Player Level	Killstreak Unlocked	Kills Required
Level 4	UAV	4
Level 4	Artillery Beacon	6
Level 4	Attack Helicopter	10
Level 6	Bomb Glider	4
Level 9	Care Package	4
Level 12	Impact Warhead	4
Level 16	Wheelson	8
Level 20	Crossfire	6
Level 24	Missile Salvo	8
Level 26	Combat Drone	6
Level 31	Counter UAV	6
Level 35	Deathstalker	10
Level 38	Railgun Sentry	8
Level 40	Advanced UAV	10
Level 45	Argonaut	10
Level 51	Gunship	12
Level 55	Air Lockdown	12

The campaign has its own set of things worth hunting down too. Read our COD Modern Warfare 4 all campaign rewards guide to see what you unlock from the story side, and check out our COD Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition rewards and pre-order bonuses guide for what extra content comes with upgraded editions.

Modern Warfare 4 Killstreaks — FAQs