US to provide Ukraine with HAWK air defence systems

According to two American officials who spoke to Reuters, the US is thinking of deploying outdated HAWK air defence systems from storage to Ukraine to aid that country’s defence against Russian drone and cruise missile threats.

The HAWK interceptor missiles would be an improvement over the Stinger missile systems, a more compact and short-range air defence system that the United States has previously delivered to stop the Russian invasion.

The HAWK air defence system which is based on technology from the Vietnam War but has been improved several times will be transferred by the Biden administration via the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). With the aid of the PDA, the United States is able to immediately move defence supplies without the consent of Congress in the event of an emergency.

According to U.S. sources speaking to Reuters, the HAWK system is the forerunner of Raytheon Technologies’ PATRIOT missile defence system, which is not an option for Ukraine.

After a catastrophic Russian missile attack earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden promised Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that Washington would give Ukraine sophisticated air systems.

According to Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, Spain plans to contribute four HAWK launchers. View More

Because it was uncertain whether enough American launchers were in acceptable condition, the United States would probably initially provide interceptor missiles for the HAWK system to Ukraine, a U.S. official told Reuters. The American systems have been stored for many years.

U.S. authorities have stated that a PDA is being considered for later this week. It would probably be half as big as the most recent security assistance packages, which have been roughly $700 million in size, according to a U.S. official.