The United States will allocate $138 million to Ukraine to modernize air defense systems.
.in_text_content_22 { width: 300px; height: 600px; } @media(min-width: 600px) { .in_text_content_22 { width: 580px; height: 400px; } }
Ambassador Bridget Brink announced this on the X network on April 11.
In anticipation, the US State Department approved the sale of the HAWK Phase III Sustainment missile system and associated logistics and program support elements to Ukraine for the same amount.
Work on the Hawk systems will be performed by contractors from Massachusetts-based RTX Corporation, formerly known as Raytheon, and PROJECTXYZ, based in Huntsville, Alabama. The State Department said the parts needed to repair the systems will be sourced from the U.S. Army, third-country donations, commercial off-the-shelf components and new production.
The MIM-23 HAWK—a name that began life as an acronym for Homing All the Way Killer—was first introduced in the 1950s as the U.S. military sought ways to overcome strategic bomber raids. Over the years, it was upgraded to handle electronic warfare and other countermeasures, and was eventually exported to more than a dozen countries.
The US has not used HAWK since 1996, the systems replacing the Patriot and Stinger.
Forbes previously called these systems a “relic of the Cold War”:
Developed in the United States in 1959 and retired in the 1990s, the HAWK system is considered somewhat obsolete.
Popular Mechanics notes that this SAM system “continues to serve in many countries more than 60 years after it was first deployed” and those systems seen in the Ukrainian Defense Forces photo “have markings indicating that it was manufactured “in 1981.”
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.