3,350 ERAM missiles are heading to Ukraine — here's how they can be used against Russia
Ukraine's offensive capabilities look set to receive a significant boost in the coming months with the announcement that the U.S. has authorized a European-funded $850 million sale of 3,350 Extended-Range Attack Munition (ERAM) missiles.
"Up to 3,350 ERAM missiles and 3,350 navigation modules to counter spoofing will be procured," Presidential Office Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak wrote on social media, confirming the deal on Aug. 28.
According to U.S. NATO Ambassador Matt Whitaker, the move is an effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to make sure Ukraine can defend itself against Russia by giving it "deeper strike capabilities."
The new long-range capabilities could "help Ukraine offensively," Whitaker said, adding: "They've already taken about 20% of Russia's oil refining capacity last month."
What is an ERAM missile?
When the ERAM missile program was announced in July 2024, its purpose was to provide a new long-range and relatively affordable cruise missile specifically for Ukraine's Air Force.
The new weapon was developed as a low-cost, quick to produce air-launched missile with a range of around 460 kilometers, 225 kilogram munition with a fragmentation warhead capable of destroying armored targets.
According to Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo who specializes in missile technology, the ERAM will have a similar destructive power to the French-made AASM Hammer glide bomb which Ukraine already has in limited numbers, but will have a longer range.
The AASM Hammer is one of several modern Western models and has already been used by Ukraine to great effect.
"The pilots of the Ukrainian Air Force speak very positively about this weapon," Viktor Kevliuk, a retired military officer and defense expert, told the Kyiv Independent earlier this year.
Which Russian targets will Ukraine hit with ERAM?
Much of this will depend on the U.S. — as a U.S.-made weapon, it's likely that Ukraine will have to seek permission every time it's used on Russian territory.
Just the process of obtaining permission means "there will not be any time-sensitive targeting," Hoffman told the Kyiv Independent.
"So that tells us it's basically going to be stationary military targets. I would expect that to be used primarily against ammunition depots, command posts, logistics, infrastructure, transportation nodes, these sorts of things," added.
The Trump administration made no official announcement regarding long-range strike policies, and it remains unclear whether Ukraine will be permitted to use ERAM missiles against targets on Russian territory.
August also saw Ukraine escalate long-range drone strikes against Russian oil infrastructure, a key source of revenue helping Moscow sustain its full-scale war.
Kyiv has been mostly deploying domestically made drones for these attacks due to limited stockpiles of Western-provided long-range missiles and range restrictions on their use.
Only in late 2024 did then-U.S. President Joe Biden ease restrictions on Ukrainian strikes with ATACMS missiles and allow their use against military targets on Russian soil, a move criticized by Trump at the time.
More recently, Trump seemed to have shifted his stance, criticizing Biden for not letting "Ukraine fight back, only defend." The Financial Times reported in July that the U.S. president suggested in a call with Zelensky that Kyiv's forces could strike Moscow, though the White House claimed the comments were taken out of context.
The sheer number of ERAM missiles being provided is also significant.
"Ukraine has probably only received maybe up to 500 Storm Shadows, and some 300, 400 ATACMS. So this is a fairly large number of weapons systems that they're going to receive," he said.
Defense Express reported on Aug. 30 that the missiles could be supplied with special ejector racks that could allow Ukraine to fit 12 missiles onto a single F-16 fighter jet.
This would allow one squadron of 12 aircraft to launch 144 ERAM missiles in a single attack.
Is there any other exciting Ukrainian missile news?
There is actually — earlier this week Ukraine unveiled what appears to be a long-range modernized version of its Neptune cruise missile, capable of hitting targets up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) away.
Originally, Neptune was Ukraine’s ground-launched, domestically produced anti-ship rocket with a maximum range of 300 kilometers which it famously used in April 2022 to sink Russia’s Black Sea flagship, the Moskva.
An image of the upgraded missile appeared in a video published on Aug. 24 by the state-run weapons portal Zbroya on Instagram.
According to Defense Express, the missile shown is likely a modernized version of the original anti-ship Neptune missile — informally dubbed as the "Long Neptune." Its estimated length could exceed six meters, the outlet claims.
And a few days earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is planning to begin mass production of its domestically developed long-range Flamingo cruise missile this winter.
Having its own long-range missile capabilities — which would not be subject to U.S. restrictions on its use — could be a game changer for Ukraine in its efforts to undermine Russia's war machine deep behind enemy lines.
Zelensky said that Flamingo had undergone successful tests, describing it as "the most successful" missile Ukraine currently has. The Flamingo missile is capable of flying up to 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles), he claimed.
It's reported to carry a large 1,150 kilogram warhead making it far more powerful than, for example, a Storm Shadow missile which carries a 450 kilogram warhead.
"By December, we’ll have more of them. And by the end of December or in January–February, mass production should begin," the president said.
In June, Ukrainian media reported that the homegrown short-range Sapsan ballistic missile had successfully completed combat testing and is in the process of serial production.
Zelensky also previously revealed that Ukraine had developed another domestic weapon, the hybrid Palianytsia missile-drone.
