Europe may establish a Sky Shield system to stop Russian missile attacks on Ukraine, The Guardian reports.
The European Air Force, which would consist of 120 fighter jets, could be deployed to protect the skies from Russian attacks on Kyiv and Western Ukraine without provoking a conflict with Moscow, a plan developed by military experts explains.
Supporters of the project say that Europe’s Sky Shield would serve as an airspace protection zone operating separately from NATO to stop Russian cruise missile and drone attacks on cities and infrastructure. This could become part of the “truce in the sky” proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week.
“It would cover Ukraine’s three operating nuclear power plants and the cities of Odesa and Lviv, but not the frontline or the east of the country – and, according to a newly published paper, it could ‘achieve greater military, political, and socioeconomic impact than 10,000 European ground troops,'” the report says.
Former US Air Force General and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Philip Breedlove, former British Army General and Deputy NATO Supreme Allied Commander Richard Shirreff, and former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski have expressed their support to the plan.
“The implementation of Sky Shield would be an important component of Europe’s stepping up, guaranteeing Ukraine’s security effectively and efficiently,” former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis believes.
The Sky Shield project was reportedly developed by former Royal Air Force planners who had previously worked with the Ukrainian military. However, European leaders have shown no willingness to patrol Ukrainian airspace while the war continues.
Western political circles are concerned about the risk that NATO member state fighter jets could become directly involved in the war with Russia, potentially leading to dangerous escalation if aircraft from both sides are attacked or shot down.
At the same time, supporters of the project insist that the risk to Sky Shield pilots is low, as Russia has refrained from flying beyond the existing front line since early 2022. The plan’s developers say that the actual separation from Russian aircraft would be over 200 kilometers.
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