Ukraine wants Hawkeis, offers to be warzone guinea pig

The move could be a breakthrough moment for heavily armoured vehicles designed to replace the Australian Army's old Land Rovers.

Manufacturer Thales in Bendigo, Victoria, has been building 1100 of the four-wheel drives for Australia's defence force but they are yet to prove themselves on major deployments.

Hawkeis caught Ukraine ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko's attention a month-and-a-half ago when he visited Thales' factory.

He now wants to meet with Australia's government and defence establishment to discuss sending 30 Hawkeis to Ukraine.

"We are in continuous discussions about military assistance," Mr Myroshnychenko said.

Both parties understand some ideas might work, others might not and more would have to be tabled at a later date, depending on what would work for Australia and Ukraine, he said.

Exactly what category Hawkeis would fit into remains to be seen.

"We are offering to be a guinea pig," Mr Myroshnychenko said.

Ukraine would get much-needed military equipment and Australia would get warzone feedback on a vehicle that has only just been certified to roll out to its own troops.

Until now, Ukraine has appeared more interested in the bigger and battle-proven Bushmaster trucks also built at Thales' Bendigo factory complex.

Australia did not discuss Hawkeis with Ukrainians before they shipped the first lot of Bushmasters to Europe, defence chief Angus Campbell said when he testified at a Senate estimates committee hearing last May.

"We may get to Hawkeis. Not at this stage," he said.

Mr Myroshnychenko said Ukraine has always known about Hawkeis, which were certified for rollout earlier this year.

"By the way, we have been providing some valuable feedback on Bushmasters from the battlefield, which I've been able to pass on to Thales," he said.

That has included information about those trucks' tyres, armour and fuel tanks, Mr Myroshnychenko said.

It is unclear whether Ukraine's interest in Hawkeis would help any Bendigo workers keep their jobs.

Thales recently confirmed it might have to make some redundant if it cannot win any new defence contracts.

Australia has not ordered new vehicles to backfill the Bushmasters already donated to Ukraine.

It has instead taken surplus trucks out of its existing stock of more than 1000.

Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters has previously said Australia might need to consider backfilling donated equipment the longer the war dragged on.

There is no end in sight as the northern winter approaches.

Neither Russia or Ukraine appear to have given serious weight to any negotiations since the early days of the war.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned Europe that Russia could shut off gas and oil supplies in months to come.

"Russia is preparing a decisive energy blow on all Europeans for this winter," he said in a video address reported by the Australian Associated Press.

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