Trump Sends Thousands of "Cheap and Powerful" Long Range Missiles to Ukraine
Stockpile of 3,350 long-range ERAM weapons brings new strike power to Kiev, at a moment when the President is dangling before Moscow both the carrot and the stick.
NOTE: As I have addressed repeatedly, Donald Trump’s strategy to bring Moscow to the peace table is multifaceted: offers of investment and other economic benefits to Russia (the carrot), combined with threats of secondary sanctions on its customers to starve the Kremlin of cash (the stick).
This pressure led to the dramatic Anchorage summit two weeks ago. But Trump has repeatedly hinted that, if Putin dithers, negative consequences could include significantly enhanced offensive capabilities for Ukraine. That is now happening, with potentially game-changing consequences. — RDM
by Iona Cleave
September 1, 2025
Donald Trump has approved the sale of thousands of cheap, extended-range missiles to Ukraine to provide the country with a powerful new strike capability.
The $825m package of 3,350 extended range attack munition (ERAM) missiles and GPS navigation kits marks the first major delivery of a new weapons system to Ukraine under the Trump administration.
The stockpile could be delivered within six weeks, according to reports.
Following another night of deadly Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities, the State Department said on Thursday that the sale would “improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by further equipping it to conduct self-defence and regional security missions”.
Confirming the news, Andriy Yermak, Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, said: “Up to 3,350 ERAM missiles and 3,350 navigation modules to counter spoofing will be procured.”
The announcement of the arms sale was delayed until after Mr. Trump’s summits with Vladimir Putin and Mr. Zelensky, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal.
The brand new ERAM systems are not as deadly as the U.S.-made ATACMS or as powerful as the British and French-supplied Storm Shadow bunker-busting missiles that Ukraine has used to strike targets in Crimea and Russia. But they are much cheaper and easier to produce, allowing Ukraine to use far more of them.
That could prove a game-changer in the largely stalemated war, now in its fourth year.