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COLUMN: The License, Not the Missile
Maxime Marquette

Primary Sources:

United States Code, Title 22, Section 2753 (Arms Export Control Act, Section 3): commitment by the recipient country not to transfer the item to anyone other than an officer, employee, or agent of that country without the consent of the President; notification thresholds to Congress of $14,000,000 and $50,000,000; content of the certification; deadlines of 15 and 30 calendar days; accessed September 4, 2026

United States Code, Title 22, Section 2776 (Arms Export Control Act, Section 36): numbered certification transmitted to Congress, subsection (c) for commercial licenses and subsection (d) for foreign manufacturing agreements, 15 calendar days for NATO and designated allies, 30 days for other countries, joint resolution to block and reasoned emergency waiver, accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Section 123.9: prior written approval from the Defense Trade Controls Directorate before any resale, transfer, re-export, re-transfer, transshipment, or disposition of a defense article; information required from U.S. or foreign applicants; conditional exemption for NATO and designated allies below thresholds of $25 million and $100 million with written notice within 30 days; accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Section 123.10: Certificate of Non-Transfer and Use, Form DSP-83, required for significant military equipment and classified items; signatures of the applicant, the foreign consignee, and the foreign end-user; possible signature by the government authority of the country of destination; prohibition on reexport without prior written approval from the Department of State; license cannot be issued until the certificate is received, accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Section 123.1: License required for any permanent export of a defense article; Form DSP-5; prior registration of the applicant; required attachments (purchase order, contract, letter of intent, letter of offer and acceptance for government-to-government sales), Form DSP-83 for significant military equipment, disclosure of political contributions and commissions exceeding $500,000, accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Section 123.15: certification to Congress pursuant to Section 36(c) of the Arms Export Control Act, thresholds of $14,000,000, $50,000,000, and $1,000,000 for Category I, $25,000,000, and $100,000,000 for NATO and designated allies; 15- or 30-calendar-day waiting period; accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Section 124.1: agreements for foreign manufacturing, technical assistance, distribution, and supply do not take effect without the prior written approval of the Defense Trade Controls Directorate, even when the technical data is in the public domain; accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Section 124.11: Certification to Congress under Section 36(d) for any agreement for the foreign manufacture of significant military equipment, regardless of the amount, 15 calendar days for NATO and designated allies and 30 days for other countries; joint blocking resolution; emergency exception; signed contract and endorsed DSP-83 form; accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Section 120.36: definition of significant military equipment, items warranting special controls due to their substantial military utility, items marked with an asterisk on the U.S. Munitions List, and classified items, accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Section 121.1: U.S. Munitions List, Category IV (space launch vehicles, guided missiles, ballistic missiles, rockets, torpedoes, bombs, and mines), asterisks on missiles, launch vehicles, propellants, non-nuclear warheads, systems, subsystems, parts, and components, technical data, and defense services, accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Agency for Defense Security Cooperation, overview of foreign military sales: the Secretary of State determines eligible countries, the Secretary of Defense executes the sales, legal basis under the Arms Export Control Act, letter of offer and acceptance as a government-to-government agreement, accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Public List of Notified Major Arms Sales: Ukraine, Class IX spare parts and related equipment at an estimated cost of $185 million on February 6, 2026; Saudi Arabia, PAC-3 MSE missiles with an estimated cost of $9.0 billion on January 30, 2026; no Patriot notifications for Ukraine in 2025 or 2026; announcement of the transfer of future publications to the State Department website, accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Security Assistance Management Manual, Chapter 8: Section C8.7 on transfers to third parties, changes in end use, and disposal of equipment; role of the Security Cooperation Office in submitting requests, verifying and documenting destruction, and coordinating with the State Department’s Political-Military Bureau; accessed September 4, 2026

U.S. Agency for Defense Security Cooperation, Golden Sentry End-Use Monitoring Program: Verification of Defense Articles and Services Transferred by the U.S. Government to Foreign Recipients, accessed September 4, 2026

Secondary Sources:

Kyiv Independent, Marco Rubio says Patriot licenses for Ukraine are being negotiated right now, remarks made on September 2, 2026, on The Brian Kilmeade Show; manufacturing licenses promised by Donald Trump in July 2026 and later withdrawn; refusal to sell 5% of the U.S. stockpile of Patriot missiles as requested by Volodymyr Zelensky; seven consecutive nights of strikes on Kyiv, September 3, 2026

United24 Media: Spain promises more Patriot missiles to Ukraine—a statement by José Manuel Albares on September 3, 2026, on the sidelines of the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Wicklow; a meeting with Andrii Sybiha on September 2; five PAC-2 interceptors already transferred from a regiment based at a Marine Corps facility in Valencia; pressure from NATO and the EU on Madrid and Athens regarding end-of-life PAC-2s; the option of a Norwegian purchase prior to transfer, September 3, 2026

Kyiv Independent, Ursula von der Leyen confirms that a Ukrainian payment request covering air defense and PAC-3 interceptors is under review; decision expected on September 7, 2026; an exemption is required because more than 35% of the system comes from outside the EU and Ukraine, veto requiring support from 55% of member states and 65% of the population, September 2, 2026

Kyiv Independent: Mykhailo Fedorov proposes exchanging drone technology for Patriot interceptors and is seeking funding for a defense technology fund, including fast interceptor drones and low-cost AI-powered missiles, August 30, 2026

Kyiv Independent, why Ukraine is unable to stop Russian ballistic missiles: the U.S.-made Patriot remains the most effective defense against ballistic missiles, but there are not enough interceptors to cover the country, August 28, 2026

Kyiv Independent, special section on Patriot systems: headlines and dates of articles from late August and early September 2026 on licenses, European payments, and interceptors, accessed September 4, 2026

This content was created with the help of AI.

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