A police strike force will be launched to investigate the recent spate of eight fatal underworld shootings in Sydney.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione announced the formation of Strike Force Osprey on Thursday afternoon.

Pasquale Barbaro was shot dead in November, 2016. Credit:Instagram

It will be run by detectives from the State Crime Command and led by the Homicide Squad.

Victorian police established a similar strike force, known as Purana, in early 2003 to investigate Melbourne's string of bloody underworld killings.