The US State Department has approved a possible sale to Ukraine of air defence equipment worth USD 2.68 billion.

The United States announced the decision on 18 September.

The programme is known as Ukraine — Air Defense Development Upgrade. The State Department has approved the potential sale and delivered the required certification to the US Congress.

Ukraine’s request includes S-300 Clone and GAM-67 missiles, extended-range laser-guided air defence missile systems, mobile launchers and upgrade kits for them.

The package also separately covers RPS 202 counter-drone radars, trailers with lifting masts, spare parts, software, equipment upgrades and maintenance.

Repairs, transportation, and engineering and logistics support are also provided for.

For now, this concerns only a possible sale. Following State Department approval, the proposal still goes through a review procedure in the US Congress.

Who will pay for the package

If the deal is completed, it is due to be financed from two sources: contributions from European partners and funds from the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme allocated under the previous US administration.

FMF is an American mechanism through which partners receive funding to purchase weapons, military equipment and services from the United States.

US officials noted that the sale should strengthen Ukraine’s ability to counter current and future aerial threats.

The decision on the new air defence package came on the same day that US President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey Graham sanctions act against Russia and Iran.

As ArmyInform reported earlier, the legislation provides for new sanctions against Russian officials, banks and the shadow fleet, as well as the option of imposing tariffs of up to 100% on the largest buyers of Russian energy and on countries that help circumvent sanctions.