Media: US to repurchase Taiwan's Hawk missiles for Ukraine aid

Washington will repurchase decommissioned HAWK air defense missiles it sold to Taiwan and deliver them to Ukraine as part of a military aid package, the China Times reported on July 14, citing its sources.

According to the unnamed sources, those are the Hawk missiles of the new model Phase III MIM-23 withdrawn from service in June.

The U.S. will hand over the weaponry to the Ukrainian army to combat Russian drones and low-altitude aircraft, the media outlet wrote.

The U.S. and Taiwan reportedly agreed on the repurchase after consultations with senior security officials as early as last year. The transfer is carried out under the $2.1 billion defense aid package announced by the U.S. on June 9, according to the China Times.

The MIM-23 HAWK is an American medium-range surface-to-air missile system developed by Raytheon. It entered service in 1960 and is still being used by Egypt, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, and other countries.  

The Ukrainian military has also used HAWK air defense systems provided by Spain. In January, the U.S. reportedly asked the Israeli government to transfer its old Hawk anti-aircraft missiles in storage to Ukraine, but Israel refused.