Spain will provide Ukraine with six additional Hawk air defence systems

Spain has approved a decision to provide Ukraine with 6 launchers for Hawk air defence systems. The press service of the Spanish government reported this.

The provision of air defence systems was announced following a meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez on October 5 as part of a meeting of the European Political Community.

Ukraine receives from Spain 12 HAWK systems in total

The two leaders discussed the current situation at the frontline in the Ukraine-Russia war. The Spanish prime minister offered more support to Ukraine, air defence systems, combat drones, and demining equipment.

“The Spanish government will provide Ukraine with six Hawk launchers to combat possible Russian bombing of civilian targets and critical infrastructure, as well as to protect the new grain corridor,” the statement said.

In December 2022, Spain handed over to Ukraine six American-made MIM-23 HAWK (Homing All the Way Killer) medium-range surface-to-air missile systems to strengthen Ukraine’s air defence. This brings the total number of systems received by Ukraine from Spain to twelve.

MIM-23 Hawk anti-aircraft missile system

The MIM-23 Hawk (“Homing All the Way Killer”) is a US-made medium-range anti-aircraft missile system manufactured by Raytheon. It was adopted by the United States in 1960, and since then, it has undergone several modernisation programs.

After modernisation, the maximum target interception range was increased to 40 km, with a maximum interception altitude of 18 km.

A Phase III HAWK system includes:

• An MPQ-50 radar.
• One AN/MPQ-62 continuous wave surveillance radar.
• Two AN/PQ-61 high-power illumination radars.
• One fire distribution centre.
• One friend-or-foe transceiver.
• Six launchers with 18 missiles.

MIM-23 Hawk capabilities

With the digitalisation of the MIM-23 Hawk, it was possible to organise its further modernisation. Its main feature is the integration of the modern AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar, which is also used in the modern NASAMS SAM, and the general digitalisation of all complex systems.

The target destruction range is 45-50 km, the target altitude is 20 km, and the missile speed is Mach 2.4. The missile is guided to the target by a semi-active homing head.

Many European countries, including Greece, the Netherlands, France, Germany and others have used HAWK systems.

EU leaders meeting in Spain

Leaders of about 50 countries gathered in the Spanish city of Granada on October 5-6 for the third European Political Community (EPC) meeting. The EU’s support for Ukraine was one of the critical topics in the discussions.

This week, Germany announced plans to supply Ukraine with additional air defence equipment, IRIS-T systems and 12 Gepard anti-aircraft guns to help protect Ukrainian grain supplies from Russian missile and drone attacks.