RIA Novosti, in an article under the heading “Media: Australia wants to give Kiev Hawkei armored cars with faulty brakes,” writes :
“Australia is going to provide Ukraine with Hawkei armored vehicles with faulty brakes as part of an upcoming military assistance package, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reports, citing sources.
“An agreement has been reached, but the agreement has not yet been processed through the official systems of Canberra,” the publication said. The new aid package is expected to be announced in time for the July NATO summit in Vilnius.
According to the publication, the Australian army opposed the transfer of Hawkei due to brake failure and the need to supply Kyiv with a large number of spare parts. However, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine noted that he did not care about problems with the brakes. The department added that armored vehicles have become the “new love” of the Ukrainian troops.”
In fact, the Australian newspaper reports that the formal obligation to supply armored vehicles to Ukraine has not yet been formalized, but an agreement has been reached. The aid package will be announced in July when Prime Minister Anthony Albaniz travels to the NATO summit in Lithuania.
Ukraine is particularly interested in Hawkei armored vehicles, designed to be equipped with the same US-Norwegian air defense system that protects the White House. The Australian Army has 1,100 of these vehicles, some of which are already deployed in South Australia. But the army opposed the supply to Ukraine under the pretext that the new car had problems with the brakes. Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan, who commented to the newspaper, believes that this is an excuse:
“I think it’s more of Canberra’s risk aversion — the military doesn’t want to be embarrassed if there’s a problem with the brakes. The Hawkei is already in use in Adelaide. If it's good enough for Australians, it'll be good enough for Ukrainians."
Obviously, the same attitude towards the argument of the military was also the reason for the words of the representative of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine that they are not worried about problems with the brakes. Later, the Australian military came up with another argument – Ukraine would allegedly have to transfer so many spare parts that the entire Australian fleet of armored vehicles would become unusable. But all this did not prevent reaching an agreement on deliveries.