U.S. approves sale of 500 Patriot missiles worth 2.8 trillion won to Ukraine... Zelenskyy: “Delivery years away; needed now”

[Financial News] The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has approved the sale to Ukraine of 500 Patriot interceptor missiles valued at $2.1 billion (about 2.8 trillion won). However, because the missiles will be newly produced rather than drawn from existing stocks, delivery is expected to take several years, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to call for an immediate supply.

On the 30th (local time), the U.S. State Department said it had approved a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) package to sell Ukraine 500 of the latest PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles for the Patriot air-defense system, along with related equipment, according to foreign media including the BBC in the U.K. The sale is one of the largest defensive weapons support measures since the start of Trump’s second administration. The prime contractor is U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin Corporation.
No U.S. government funds will be used for the transaction. The purchase will be financed by contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway through the U.S. JUMPSTART program, as well as funds from European Union (EU) loans to support Ukraine. The U.S. State Department said, “This sale will enhance Ukraine’s integrated air-defense capabilities and will not negatively affect the United States’ defense readiness.”
The approval came as tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine, which had peaked, began to ease. Zelenskyy had been calling for a swift decision, saying he had been waiting nearly a month for approval to supply Patriot missiles amid Russia’s offensive. Trump, meanwhile, criticized Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil facilities, citing rising global oil prices, and announced a “diesel deal” with Russia, sending relations between the two countries into a chill. But the day before, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Ukraine had agreed to temporarily halt strikes on Russian refineries, and the U.S. State Department announced approval of the missile sale the following day.

The question is when the weapons will actually be delivered. The sale covers newly produced missiles, not existing U.S. military stocks, making it difficult to deploy them in Ukraine in the short term. Zelenskyy welcomed the U.S. decision but appealed, saying, “It came with the condition that deliveries may not begin for several years,” and, “Ukraine needs Patriot missiles right now.”
Ukraine is currently facing an intense Russian offensive as winter approaches. According to Zelenskyy, Russia has launched more than 30 attacks on key facilities in Ukraine’s power grid over the past two weeks. The day before, drone and missile strikes hit the railway station in Dnipro in central Ukraine, Kyiv and other locations, killing at least 21 people. Strengthening air defenses to intercept ballistic missiles is urgently needed.
The United States, too, is facing a shortage of key air-defense weapons, having expended large quantities of ammunition in its recent military operation against Iran in addition to supplying weapons to allies. Annual production of Patriot interceptor missiles currently stands at only about 600. In response, the U.S. Army signed a contract with Lockheed Martin in July worth up to $58.6 billion (about 78.28 trillion won), and Lockheed Martin plans to triple annual PAC-3 MSE production capacity to around 2,000 by the end of 2030.


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