Taiwan could secretly transfer surplus HAWK anti-aircraft missile batteries to the Air Force of Ukraine.
Former Pentagon official Tony Hu said about it.
His words confirm information from 2023 about an agreement between Taipei and Kyiv in the field of air defense, which was supposedly concluded with the mediation of the United States. Taiwanʼs MIM-23 HAWK missiles, as well as their launchers and radars, supplemented those already provided to Ukraine by the United States and Spain, Forbes writes.
In total, the Armed Forces of Ukraine can now deploy up to 15 Raytheon HAWK batteries. Each of them has at least six launchers with three missiles and associated radars, the publication states.
At the time of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force had about 50 batteries of air defense systems. These were mostly S-300 and other models of the USSR. Since then, many old weapons have been replaced by more modern Western systems, such as American Patriots.
Despite the fact that HAWKs are more than 60 years old, they are reliable and highly mobile launchers that work effectively against drones, cruise missiles and manned aircraft, Forbes writes. In addition, HAWK is compatible with a more modern air defense system that is in service with Ukraine — the American-Norwegian NASAMS.
"The more different air defense systems Ukraine operates, the more different missile stocks and production lines it can use to arm those systems with replacement missiles," says Forbes military columnist David Ax.
- In June 2023, the China Times and Taiwan News wrote that the US is buying decommissioned MIM-23 Hawk anti-aircraft missile systems in Phase III modification from Taiwan to transfer to Ukraine. These complexes intercept missiles at a distance of up to 40 km at a maximum height of 18 km.
- At the time, Taiwanʼs Ministry of National Defense declined Taiwan Newsʼ request for comment. The agency said that "weapons are disposed of in accordance with the rules".
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