Australia intends to provide Ukraine with Hawkei armored vehicles as the centerpiece of an upcoming military aid package, The Sydney Morning Herald reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to them, during a meeting in Singapore at the Asian Security Summit (Shangri-la Dialogue) between Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov "an understanding had been reached but the deal was yet to be processed through Canberra's formal systems."

Marles declined to comment specifically on the Hawkei but said the Ukrainians "have given us a list; we had a pretty detailed conversation."

The new support package would be unveiled "soon," he said.

The publication notes that the announcement of assistance to Ukraine is expected by the time of the trip of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the NATO summit in Lithuania next month.

Meanwhile, the Australian Financial Review reports that Australia, the United States and Ukraine are discussing sending 41 decommissioned Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 Hornets to Kyiv instead of scrapping them.

Sources of the publication said that the United States favors the idea of transferring the F/A-18s to Ukraine.