The US will sell Ukraine up to 138 million dollars worth of equipment to maintain and upgrade HAWK air defence systems to help defend against Russian drone and missile attacks, a US State Department official said on Tuesday, the 9th of April, reports Reuters.
The transfer of HAWK equipment to Ukraine is under presidential authority, which allows the rapid delivery of US defence equipment
in emergency situations without congressional approval.
Tuesday’s sale of emergency military equipment is worth 138 million US dollars, the official said.
Although Ukraine has run out of many sources of US funding, Kyiv received a 300 million USD grant for foreign military financing as part of the recently signed annual defence spending bill. The grant money will be used to pay for equipment, which includes engineering equipment and integration for communications and for the refurbishment of HAWK fire units.
In addition, missile recertification items for older units, tools, test and support equipment, spare parts and others are also being transferred.
The sale of HAWK interceptors to Ukraine involves the travel of approximately five US Government personnel and 15 contractor representatives to Europe for training and maintenance assistance.
The US military on Tuesday also approved
the transfer to Ukraine of thousands of weapons and more than 500 000 rounds of ammunition
that were seized more than a year ago when Iran sent them to Houthi forces in Yemen.
CENTCOM has said this included more than 5 000 AK-47 submachine guns, machine guns, sniper rifles and grenade launchers, as well as more than 500 000 rounds of ammunition.
According to CENTCOM, the ammunition was seized from four “stateless” vessels that were intercepted by US Navy ships and partner forces between the 22nd of May 2021 and the 15th of February 2023. These weapons were sent to the Houthis by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, CENTCOM has said.
Also read: NATO committed to send more air defence systems to Ukraine, but makes no concrete promises
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