The U.S. the Department of Defense and the Biden administration are considering sending Hawk medium-range, surface-to-air guided missile systems to Ukraine.
The story was first reported by Reuters, which cited two U.S. officials who said that Washington is considering sending older Hawks from storage to Ukraine to defend against Russian missiles and Iranian-supplied Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Spain also will supply the four Hawk anti-aircraft missile launchers.
The MIM-23 Hawk is a missile system that can provide air defense coverage against low-to-medium-altitude aircraft and missiles. The missile is highly lethal, reliable, and effective against electronic countermeasures. Basic Hawk was developed in the 1950s and initially fielded in 1960. The system has been upgraded through a series of product improvements beginning with the Improved Hawk in 1970.
The Hawk donated by Spain to Ukraine is the MIM-23B version which has a minimum engagement range of 1.5 kilometers, a maximum range of 35 km, a minimum engagement altitude of 60 meters, a maximum engagement altitude of 18,000 m, and a warhead of 75 kg HE blast/fragmentation.