LATIKA M BOURKE: Australia urged to consider Euro-lead air defence of Ukraine’s skies, Sky Shield plan revived

Australia is being urged to consider joining an international coalition to defend Ukraine’s skies.

A group of leading security figures across Europe have revived a plan called Sky Shield, which aims to gather around 120 fighter jets to protect critical areas and infrastructure in Ukraine.

The proposal, floated by former NATO commander in Europe Philip Breedlove, argues the shield should operate separately from NATO.

Another of the plan’s backers is the former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who told The Nightly it was the type of capability Australia could contribute towards.

“It feels as if the world is getting to a democracies versus dictatorships standoff, and we might have to fight this fight without the United States on our side,” he said.

“So there has never been a more important time to support each other, because what is a reality now in the European continent could very soon be a reality in (the) Indo-Pacific.

“Ukrainians managed to build up their defence capabilities using mostly unmanned systems, but what they are still lacking is air defence - land or air-based.

“Australian contribution is needed practically in Ukraine and strategically to show that the democracies are not about to give up.”

The Australian Government has wavered on whether to send any military capability but has said it will consider any request.

Australia could be asked to move the troops currently training Ukrainians on British soil to Ukraine and take part in a drone task force, which would also help teach the Australian Defence Force about how Ukraine has used cheaper drones to defend itself and attack Russia.

Former Labor Defence Material Minister Mike Kelly said sending fighter jets would be the limit of what Australia would consider deploying as any part of the British-French-led coalition.

“I don’t think the Prime Minister has got in mind sending any infantry or armour,” the former Australian Army officer said.

“But if we were bold enough to provide air support, either in the backend or the enabling part, that would be very significant.”

Mr Kelly said that regardless of Australia sending manpower, the flow of the Bushmaster armoured vehicles should continue.

He also said production of 155mm artillery rounds in Victoria should be sped up and boosted to the maximum 100,000 rounds per year and sent to Ukraine.

But Professor Peter Dean, who wrote the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, said that Australia should leave any peacekeeping missions to Europe.

“Australia does not have the resources to be sending any fighting capability to Ukraine,” he said.

“We are already shortchanged on our own air defences.

“The best contribution we could make is to continue sending Ukraine military kit, energy and money.”

Benjamin Jensen from the US-based think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies crunched the numbers and found it would require between 40 and 160 aircraft to protect Ukraine’s skies during any ceasefire.

“The CISIS Futures Lab used a model based on military doctrine and existing air policing missions to come up with the estimate, which is consistent with Sky Shield,” Mr Jensen said.

“The base estimate for any mission starts with defensive counter-air doctrine against the size of analysis of ongoing NATO aerial policing missions.

“The resulting range shows you what is realistic and what is optimal.

“And for each aircraft in the skies or on alert at an airbase, there are crews of maintainers, supply and intelligence personnel making the mission possible.

“The result is a requirement for thousands of people working together to put jets in the air and integrate the mission with the larger air defence network protecting NATO countries.

Vladimir Putin, in his first comments since Ukraine and the United States put forward an immediate 30-day ceasefire, did not accept the idea, piling pressure on US President Donald Trump to prove that his relationship with the Russian President will lead to a laying down of arms.

Mr Putin donned military fatigues and toured the Kursk region where Russia had pushed back a Ukrainian advance on Wednesday – the same day German, Italian and Polish counterparts in Paris to thrash out further details of what security guarantees could be provided to Ukraine, amid fears the Trump Administration will withdraw the United States from Europe.

The E5 ministers said in their joint statement that they “remain open to cooperation … with partners outside the EU who can contribute to our efforts.”

UK Defence Secretary John Healey said that it was up to Mr Putin to “prove it” when he said that he wanted peace by accepting the ceasefire so negotiations could begin.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he would like Australia, which is not a NATO member but one of the Indo-Pacific Four countries whose leaders have been invited to the last three annual summits, to contribute.

Sir Keir will host a virtual meeting of leaders on Saturday.

The Coalition opposition says it opposes any deployment to Ukraine.