WASHINGTON - The US will sell Ukraine up to US$138 million (S$185.6 million) worth of equipment to maintain and upgrade its Hawk air defence systems to help defend against Russian drone and cruise missile attacks, a US State Department official told Reuters on April 9.

The US began shipping Hawk interceptor missiles to Ukraine in 2022 as an upgrade to the shoulder-launched Stinger air defence missile systems – a smaller, shorter-range system.

Since then, Ukraine has received several air defence systems, including the US-made Patriot system.

The emergency foreign military sale on April 9 is worth as much as US$138 million, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Although Ukraine has run out of many sources of US funds, Kyiv was given a grant of US$300 million in foreign military financing as part of the annual defence spending Bill recently signed into law.

The grant will be used to pay for the equipment, which includes engineering and integration for communications and refurbishment of Hawk fire units.

In addition, the sale includes missile recertification components for older units, tools, test and support equipment, spare parts and more.

The sale will require temporary-duty travel to Europe of about five US government employees and 15 contractor representatives to support training and sustainment, the official said.

Presidential drawdown authority had been used previously to transfer Hawk equipment to Ukraine.

That provision allows the US to transfer defence articles and services from American stocks quickly without congressional approval in response to an emergency.

The MIM-23 Hawk – a name that began as an acronym for “Homing All the Way Killer” – was first introduced in the 1950s as the US military sought ways to defeat raids by high-flying strategic bombers.

It was upgraded over the years to deal with jamming and other counter-measures, and eventually exported to more than a dozen countries, according to the US Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command. REUTERS