Today, Wednesday, the Axios news website quoted Israeli and US officials as saying that the US administration had asked Israel for an “old” air defense system it kept in its warehouses to send to Ukraine.
Hawk missiles
The sources, which the site did not name, indicated that the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) contacted its Israeli counterpart two weeks ago to request “Hawk” anti-aircraft missiles.
A US official said that similar requests have been sent to several other countries that own this system, whether it is in active service or in storage.
“Outdated”
The site quoted an Israeli source as saying that an official in the Israeli Ministry of Defense told the Pentagon that the Hawk systems are “outdated and cannot operate due to the long period of storage without maintenance.”
However, Israeli officials confirmed that the hundreds of Hawk missiles that Israel has in storage can be renewed and used, although the launchers may be completely out of order.
And the Israeli Ministry of Defense stressed in a statement to “Axios” that the position of the Israeli security establishment regarding providing military assistance to Ukraine “has not changed,” but indicated that each request is being considered separately.
31 Abrams tanks
US President Joe Biden said today, Wednesday, that Washington had decided to supply Kyiv with 31 M1 Abrams tanks.
Biden added that “delivering these tanks to the battlefield will take time,” explaining that “the United States will start training the Ukrainian army as soon as possible.”
He emphasized that “what we all want is an end to this war, but on just and lasting terms.”