The U.S. State Department gave the green light Friday for Canada to buy more light, off-road troop transport vehicles.

The decision is likely to add to the existing political headache faced by the Liberal government, which has staked part of its reputation on making fewer defence purchases in the United States.

The approval by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency involves the latest tranche of joint light tactical vehicles and comes just over a year after the Department of National Defence bought 90 of the open-top, open-side transports for Canadian troops deployed in Latvia.

The latest planned purchase — when completed — amounts to about $220 million and is part of the overall effort to re-equip the army writ large.

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