Wire reporting: (AP, via CityNews Toronto)

The U.S. State Department on Friday approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Ukraine of 500 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors and related support, with an estimated cost of $2.1 billion, according to a department congressional notification reported by the BBC, Meduza and the Kyiv Independent^1,3,4.

The department said Ukraine would pay with donations from Canada, Germany and Norway through the JUMPSTART program and with national funds financed by the European Union's Ukraine Support Loan, and that no U.S. funds are involved^1,4.

Lockheed Martin was named as the principal contractor¹.

The approval is a determination that a sale may go forward, not a completed contract, and the State Department statement did not give a delivery start date^3,4. The Kyiv Independent reported that Congress generally has 30 days to review a proposed sale of this kind⁴.

Ukraine had said deliveries of Patriot interceptors had been delayed in recent months, according to the BBC and an Associated Press account carried by CityNews Toronto^1,2. NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, said Washington was continuing to supply Patriot missiles and weapons bought under the NATO-coordinated Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Bloomberg⁴.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking Friday, said Russian ballistic missiles had struck two regions of Ukraine, according to the BBC¹. The Kyiv Independent, citing Interfax-Ukraine, reported that he compared a figure of about 150 missiles a year from the United States with a need to intercept about 150 ballistic missiles a month⁴.

The BBC said global demand for the interceptors has been high, including U.S. use in a war against Iran¹. What remains unknown is when, if Congress does not block the notice, the 500 PAC-3 MSE missiles would be produced and delivered^3,4.