Ukraine has secured approval from the US Department of State to acquire up to 3,350 low-cost cruise missiles for use by its air force.
Under the proposed Foreign Military Sales deal, Kyiv would acquire Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) weapons, sourced from US contractors CoAspire and Zone 5 Technologies.
In a notification published on 28 August, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) valued the prospective deal as worth up to $825 million.
“Procurement funding will be provided with the support of Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway through the Purl and Jumpstart programmes,” Ukrainian defence minister Denys Shmyhal said on 29 August. “I am grateful to our partners,” he adds.
“The ERAM is an example of working together with our NATO allies to develop a capable and scalable system capable of being delivered on a fast timeline,” the DSCA states.
While little is known about the ERAM design, CoASpire’s product line includes Rusty Dagger, and the Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile, which underwent flight-testing earlier this year. Zone 5, meanwhile, has experience in the launched effects and counter-uncrewed aerial systems sector.
The DSCA says the weapons to be provided to Ukraine will use global positioning system and inertial navigation system guidance, and feature a selective availability anti-spoofing module capability.
While it has not been disclosed which aircraft type would be equipped with the US-produced weapons, this is likely to be the Ukrainian air force’s Lockheed Martin F-16s.
Data from aviation analytics company Cirium suggests that Kyiv currently has 22 F-16As in active use.