Media: The United States will buy decommissioned MIM-23 Hawk air defense systems and hundreds of missiles from Taiwan for transfer to Ukraine

The United States will buy decommissioned MIM-23 Hawk medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems and hundreds of missiles for them from Taiwan for transfer to Ukraine.

This was reported by the Taiwanese portal “Zhongshi Xinwenwan”, citing sources.

What weapons will the US buy from Taiwan for Ukraine?

According to the portal’s sources, an agreement on this was reached last year.

In June of this year, the Taiwanese army removed the MIM-23 Hawk air defense system from service.

It is noted that the Taiwanese army had four divisions and 18 batteries with the specified air defense systems and several hundred missiles for them.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense did not confirm this information, saying that the use of decommissioned weapons is regulated by separate legal acts, which in some cases allow resale.

The MIM-23 Hawk air defense systems have been in service with the Taiwanese army since the 1960s. They are capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 50 kilometers and at an altitude of up to 20 km.

According to the portal, from 1965 to 2017, the MIM-23 Hawk air defense system of the Taiwan Army was involved in live-fire exercises at least 41 times, 324 missiles were fired, 293 of them successfully hit targets. Thus, the effectiveness was approximately 90.4%.

Let us recall that on June 9 they announced a new package of military assistance worth $2.1 billion, including air defense equipment and ammunition, in particular, the MIM-23 Hawk air defense system, missile systems with a laser guidance system, Puma drones, artillery shells of 105 mm and 203 mm caliber .

In addition, Washington promised assistance in the preparation and maintenance of equipment.

Last year, Spain transferred 4 MIM-23 Hawk air defense systems to Ukraine.