The US is considering transferring to Ukraine the HAWK air defense systems from storage.

Reuters reports this with reference to two U.S. officials.

These systems would be an upgrade to the Stinger MANPADS, which Ukraine has already received from partners.

It is noted that to transfer the HAWK, the presidential administration would use the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the transfer of weapons from stocks quickly without congressional approval.

The exact number of HAWK air defense systems is currently unknown.

The US would likely initially ship the interceptor missiles for the systems, as it is unclear how many launchers are in good condition, as reported by one of the U.S. officials. These systems have been in storage for decades.

They note that this assistance will be considered for later this week. According to the publication, this aid package would likely be about half the size of the recent security assistance packages.

As previously reported on October 14, Spain would be transferring four Hawk air defense systems to Ukraine. This was agreed upon during the Rammstein 6 meeting.

MIM-23 Hawk

MIM-23 Hawk is an American medium-range anti-aircraft missile system manufactured by Raytheon. It was adopted in 1960, and since then, it has undergone several modernization programs.

Initially, the system was developed to destroy aircraft. It was later upgraded to intercept missiles. The first versions of the system had a range of 25 km for aerial targets, and an altitude of 14 km. After modernization, the maximum target interception range increased to 40 km with a maximum interception altitude of 18 km.

Each mobile launcher houses three MIM-23 anti-aircraft missiles. Launchers can be either self-propelled or towed.

In addition to launchers, depending on the modification, the battery includes various radars, a mobile control post, an IFF system, and several other auxiliary equipments.

In 1994, the United States Army replaced the system with the MIM-104 Patriot SAM. The system was finally decommished in the United States in 2002 after the American Marine Corps removed it from service. In total, approximately 40,000 missiles were produced globally for this type of SAM. They were produced not only in the United States but in several other countries under licensing agreements.