US buying decommissioned Hawk missiles from Taiwan for Ukraine – media

The US is rebuying decommissioned MIM-23 Hawk missile systems sold to Taiwan to provide them to Ukraine as part of a military aid package.

Source: China Times, referring to the source; Taiwan News; Military

Details: The source of the newspaper states that it is about the Phase III MIM-23 Hawk, decommissioned in June. The purchase agreement was preceded by consultations between the US and Taiwanese governments. SAMs [surface-to-air missiles – ed.] will be transferred to the Ukrainian army to combat Russian drones and low-altitude aircraft.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence declined Taiwan News' request for comment but said the weapons were being disposed of in accordance with regulations. Taiwan will replace the decommissioned weapons with the Sky Bow III (TK-3) system.

For reference: The MIM-23 HAWK is an American medium-range anti-aircraft missile system developed by Raytheon. It entered service in 1960 and has undergone several modernisation programmes since then. It has three generations: Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III.

Initially, the system was developed to destroy aircraft, but later it was modified to intercept missiles. They were in service with a large number of European countries, including Greece, the Netherlands, France, Germany and others.

According to the Taiwan Air Force, Hawk missiles were used in 41 combat exercises between 1965 and 2017, hitting their targets more than 90 per cent of the time.  

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!