Finland just agreed to arm Ukraine's F-16s against faster Russian drones

Finland just agreed to send Ukraine ammunition for its F-16 fighter jets.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced it a few hours ago, on Facebook.

He'd just got off the phone with Alexander Stubb, Finland's President.

So what's the ammunition actually for? Shooting down Russia's jet-powered Shahed drones. The new, faster kind.

Zelensky says quote "In the coming days, we will receive ammunition for F-16s. This is what currently ensures the downing of jet-powered Shaheds."

Now here's where it gets murky.

Finland approved its 35th aid package for Ukraine one day ago. Alexander Stubb signed off on it. Around one million euros. One single item, pulled straight from Finnish Defence Forces stockpiles.

Antti Häkkänen, Finland's Defence Minister, says it got fast-tracked after Ukraine asked for it urgently.

But nobody has confirmed whether that package is the F-16 ammunition, or something else entirely.

And that's not the only gap. Finland hasn't said whether this is cannon rounds, air-to-air missiles, or both. No quantity given. "In the coming days" is as specific as it gets.

Finland isn't first here either. Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands have all sent F-16 ammunition to Ukraine in the last two weeks. Finland is catching up with its own allies.

So why does any of this matter? Because the drones themselves have changed.

Yurii Cherevashenko is Ukraine's Deputy Air Force Commander. He told a parliamentary commission that Russia's jet-powered drones could eventually hit 800 to 900 kilometres an hour.

Right now they're already doing about 600. Compare that to the older, propeller-driven Shahed-136. That one tops out at 180 to 200.

And Cherevashenko says these jet-powered drones already make up about 40 per cent of Russia's strike waves. On some fronts, it's up to 60 per cent.