MIM 23 Hawk Missile
The MIM-23 Hawk (Homing All the Way Killer) is an American medium-range surface-to-air missile system designed to target low-to-medium altitude aircraft. The system is unique among SAM platforms in its ability to employ both conventional warheads and air burst fragmentation rounds, which explode near rather than on a target, damaging enemy aircraft or vehicles through devastating shrapnel patterns.
Service History
Hawk missile systems were phased out of general US military use in 1994, though the United States Marine Corps maintained usage through 2002. The system was widely exported and operated by allied nations, including the Peruvian Air Force (FAP).
Significance in UAP Research
Jonathan Weygandt theorized that the catastrophic damage observed on the crashed egg-shaped craft during the 1997 Peru UFO Crash Incident was caused by Hawk MIM-23 air burst fragmentation rounds, likely fired by Peruvian Air Force batteries. Wagant spent extensive time studying MIM-23 ballistics and believed the fragmentation pattern visible on the craft — an enormous gash in the rear with damage consistent with shrapnel penetration and internal bouncing — matched Hawk missile characteristics.
While the USMC had phased Hawk batteries out of Operation Laser Strike in early 1997, Peruvian forces still operated the system. The implication that a conventional air burst round could damage a highly advanced non-human craft raises an intriguing question: while a direct hit on a maneuvering UAP may be impossible, an air burst round that detonates in proximity may generate sufficient fragmentation to damage a target at close range. A similar "one-in-a-million" targeting scenario was discussed in UAP Gerb's analysis of a 1973 incident in which a naval destroyer's weapons targeted a teardrop-shaped UFO.