Romanian Army soldiers deploy a HAWK PIP III R ground-to-air missile launch pad during a joint military exercise with the US Army that aimed to test the interoperability of U.S. and Romanian armed forces in the event of a missile attack, near Corbu village in Constanta county, Romania, November 8, 2016. Inquam Photos/Ovidiu Micsik/via REUTERS
Reuters: Exclusive-U.S. Considers HAWK Air Defense Equipment for Ukraine, Say U.S. Officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is considering sending older HAWK air defense equipment from storage to Ukraine to help it defend against Russian drone and cruise missile attacks, two U.S. officials told Reuters.
The HAWK interceptor missiles would be an upgrade to the Stinger missile systems - a smaller, shorter range air defense system - that the United States has already sent to blunt Russia's invasion.
The Biden administration would use the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to transfer the HAWK equipment which is based on Vietnam-era technology, but has been upgraded several times.
The PDA allows the United States to transfer defense articles and services from stocks quickly without congressional approval in response to an emergency.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The HAWK air-defense systems are old. It looks like the US wants to get rid of all of its old inventory.
Update: I guess it is better than nothing .... How HAWK Missile System Compares to Ukraine's Current Defense Options (Newsweek).
U.S. Considering Sending HAWK Air Defense Equipment To Ukraine
U.S. Officials Say Washington Is Mulling HAWK Air Defense Equipment For Ukraine -- RFE
US considers HAWK air defense equipment for Ukraine, say US officials as German president visits Kyiv -- Independent.ie
US Considers Vietnam-Era Air Defense System for Ukraine: Report -- Defense Post
US might deliver Ukraine anti-aircraft weapons from decades ago -- MENAFN
4 comments:
Something is not always better than nothing.
Of course less than optimal equipment does have uses. The USSR used inferior American tanks for rear area security, which freed up better Russian T-34s for frontline duty.
Not everything Russia is using is top of the line either. Having a Hawk missile battery to protect infrastructure when Russia is using surface air in a surface to surface mode might work out fine.
If the Hawks have some utility, it saves the cost of decommissioning. Plus the Pentagon gets some real world data outside of development testing. It might help the procurement process in the future.
They are decent weapons for the Ukrainian theater where signal jamming has proven very effective against more sophisticated interceptors like the S-300's. They just need to be used properly.
These will either be held in storage until the Russian offensive starts this winter and used to target KA-52's and older MiGs as they venture further into unfriendly airspace, or, at the current pace of the ongoing infrastructure attacks, completely wasted in a few hours.
Trying to intercept an incoming drone swarm with these old missiles would only result in increased destruction as they come back down after missing their far too numerous targets.
Either way, Raytheon gets a big order for entire Patriot batteries to replace these things.
You use shit tactics of attacking from neutral countries like Belarus or declare we can attack your country, but do not dare attack our country, then things will change. Ukraine will lay waste to the infrastructure around Belgorod.
The Ukrainians will not use Hawks against small drones. they will use technicals. It would be nice if 4:24 did some reading and tried, at least tried, to keep up. I would point out the url of website talking about the inexpensive technicals, but why help the 424 troll?
If Iran falls to the protesters, what will Russia do? Will Putin be all wee weed up?
Where will Russia get its drones then?
They would get them from the same factories that produce them now. I would expect a few additional factories will receive orders and funding from the department of commerce in the coming months as well. The July 5th war economy bill is actually a pretty sweet deal for the owners. You don't get a say in how much the government pays them for delivery but the legislation covers the entire cost of hiring and manufacturing and in the end they get to keep all the new equipment. Plus double overtime pay for the employees.
You live in fantasy land. Tehran's protests are perennial. They treat their people like shit and they're well versed in maintaining order despite it.
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