Given the overtly pro-russian rhetoric emerging from the White House, one potential lever of pressure on Ukraine is the possibility of Elon Musk deciding to halt the operation of Starlink satellite communications in Ukraine. It should be recalled that it started operating in Ukraine on February 27, 2022, after a direct call to Elon Musk to enable it from the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov.
After all, this threat has a basis. It should be noted that Starlink was deliberately shut down during the initial attack by Ukrainian maritime drones, and there were "technical failures" during some other attacks. Eventually, such incidents were forgotten, and Ukrainian maritime drones continued to use this communication system.
Read more: Ukrainian Forces Integrate Drone Capable of Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare, and Precision Attacks (Video)
Despite this, a global shutdown is unlikely, according to communications and electronic warfare expert Serhiy "Flash" Beskrestnov. Although the Defense Forces of Ukraine are ready for this.
"From the very beginning, it was clear what an unstable partner we were dealing with. All the military understood that it was wrong to rely on military communications built on commercial infrastructure owned by another country, which is beyond our control. That's why our military, who are in charge of communications at the General Staff, arranged everything so that we could use alternative communication channels in addition to Starlink," Serhiy said.
In other words, even if for some reason Starlink stops working, there will be no catastrophe and the Ukrainian military will not be left without communication. At the same time, for drone operations and targeting, this would pose a significant problem, but it can be solved. In the end, Ukrainian troops are fighting in the Kursk region without Starlink.
The expert also estimated the number of SpaceX satellite communication terminals within the ranks of the Defense Forces of Ukraine at up to 100,000 units. Several dozen of these are accounted for by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Moreover, a significant portion of them are terminals funded by foreign governments through commercial contracts, which come at a much higher cost. On behalf of Defense Express, we should also note that one of the customers is the US Department of Defense, acting in the interests of Ukraine.
Even if we consider all individual users who pay for Starlink, the total is about ten million dollars per month (subscription fee of $120 per month for one terminal). This is more than in the entire Europe. However it is not even about the money, it is about the fact that SpaceX has demonstrated the benefits of its connection on the example of Ukraine. Therefore, separate service packages are created for the military and government agencies of different countries, with guaranteed communication quality and security. So, it is just a matter of business.
"There are no signs that Starlink will be disconnected at the moment. If this happens, it will be a big problem and quite painful, but it will not be a catastrophe," Serhiy Beskrestnov summarized, adding that such panic may be deliberately created by russia.
Earlier Defense Express reported that russia had equipped Shahed-136 with Starlink.
Read more: How Ukrainian Military 'harvests' russian Lost in Location Shahed-type UAVs and What's New in These Drones
