Starlink company of American billionaire Elon Musk prevents the use of its terminals by Ukrainian troops on the territory occupied by Russia. In this respect writer The edition of The Economist cites a source in Ukrainian military intelligence.
According to the magazine, the Armed Forces initially wanted to use Starlink communications to control drones and attack Russian rears and areas – because Musk’s satellites are operating in such numbers and so frequently that Russian electronic warfare systems can barely suppress it.
In particular, the publication claims that it was this gap in the defense of the Russian Armed Forces that made it possible to carry out an attack using a seaplane on the base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in October 2022.
“But since Mr. Musk was clearly concerned about escalation due to such moves, he intervened where Russian technology failed. Starlink now uses geofencing to prevent its terminals from being used not only in Russian-occupied territory, but also over water and when the terminal is moving above 100 km/h.
According to the magazine’s interlocutor, now if the Starlink terminal is placed on a ship and enters the Black Sea, it will stop working. In this regard, Ukrainian drone developers and their operators in the Ukrainian Armed Forces are forced to use other, more expensive communication systems to control drones.
The Economist notes that perhaps the use of more advanced communication systems will allow Kiev to come closer to solving one of the strategic tasks assigned to drones – attacking deep into Russian territory.
“The success of the attack near Moscow on February 28 shows that Ukraine may come closer to a working solution,” the newspaper writes, referring to the crash of a warplane in the Kolomensky district in the Moscow region. After that, no one was injured, and there was no damage to the ground.
An anonymous source for the magazine from the Ukrainian military-industrial complex claims that the military should acquire “significant and high-tech talents” in the coming weeks and months. However, even this will not allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to fly freely and attack objects on Russian soil.
“The Russians are very, very good at what they do. They use black magic in electronic defense. It can jam frequencies, fake GPS data, send a plane to the wrong altitude and fall out of the sky,” the source explained.
In addition, Russian UAVs are more effective in today’s armed conflicts. The Economist quotes Seth Franzman, military expert and author of Drone Wars. He argues that Ukraine’s drone program is still far from rivaling Russia’s.
“One of the problems is access to air munitions, because America does not want to provide weapons that can penetrate deep into Russia. With improvised means and ingenuity, you can not go far, ”the publication says, although the Ukrainians, of course, are trying.
The publication, referring to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov, draws attention to another problem in the development and production of unmanned aerial vehicles – the lack of engines. They are produced by only a few companies in the world, and Kiev currently competes fiercely with Moscow for these components. “We really feel the presence of the other side here,” said Fedorov.