Spain will send another Hawk air defense system to Ukraine in September, Minister of Defense Margarita Robles told her Ukrainian counterpart last week.
Many countries, including Spain, have donated Hawk systems to Ukraine to bolster its air and missile defense capabilities, particularly in the short-to-medium range.
Raytheon developed the Cold War-era MIM-23 Hawk in the mid-1950s for the US Army.
Since then, the system has gone through three major upgrades, the last in 1989.
The US Army replaced the system with the Patriot in 1994, while it remained operational with the US Marine Corps until 2002.
The Hawk in Ukraine
Ukraine is likely to have received the latest Hawk version, capable of shooting down a wide range of aerial targets, including fighter jets, helicopters, and drones.
According to a video posted on the Ukrainian Air Force’s official YouTube channel, a Hawk battery brought down six Iran-designed Shahed attack drones in its first engagement.
Other notable intercepts included over a dozen Kh-59 air-launched cruise missiles and sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles.
Features
The Hawk can destroy aerial threats at a distance of 28 to 31 miles (45 to 50 kilometers) and an altitude of 65,000 feet (20,000 meters).
The weapon has a speed of Mach 2.4 and a 119-pound (54 kilogram) blast fragmentation warhead.
