Spain, as part of providing armed assistance to Ukraine, is handing over 4 Hawk air defense systems to us. The Spanish systems, by the time they were put into service, can be called a classmate of our Strela-10 systems – these are short-range systems that are in service in the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
About this 24 Channel said Defense Express expert Ivan Kirichevsky. He also noted that these complexes are basically 60s, but if we talk specifically about Spain, their complexes have been modernized according to NATO standards.
“This modernization was very fresh – it took place in 2020,” says Kirichevsky.
Ivan Kirichevsky adds that if at first glance these complexes look a little old-fashioned, then they can perform certain tasks very efficiently.
“For example, covering stationary objects from cruise missiles. And the “flying balalaikas” Hawk will do just fine,” he is convinced.
Of the shortcomings, failures happen quite often, but failures on Soviet complexes are many times more frequent. And in terms of mobility – she wants the best, the deployment of the complex lasts 30 minutes .
More about Hawk installations
MIM -23 Hawk – SAM of a bygone generation. At one time, it went down in history as the main anti-aircraft complex of the United States and NATO countries during the Cold War. Then the MIM-23 Hawk systems were distributed around the world in large numbers: 10 countries were in service.
MIM-23 Hawk was put into operation in 1960. During this time, the air defense system underwent 4 upgrades. The last of them included the digitalization of the complex with the ability to simultaneously intercept several targets and destroy low-altitude targets.
The point is that, thanks to the computerization of the MIM-23 Hawk, they also carried out further modernization of the air defense system, known as Hawk XXI. It is currently in service with Turkey.
It is important that the fire capabilities of the complex continued to rely on the MIM-23 anti-aircraft missile. She was undergoing renovation and modernization until the mid-90s.
