Drones, Delta, and Elon Musk’s Starlink help Ukraine military fight off Russian army
Despite power outages, the advanced satellite system, Starlink keeps the Ukrainian military connected and allows its drone units to target Russian troops, tanks, and supply vehicles.
The Ukrainian drone unit Aerorozvidka (Aerial Reconnaissance), which prefers to strike at night “when Russians sleep,” has been very effective with their drones to monitor Russian troop movements and drop explosives on their military vehicles.
As more cities and villages are being destroyed by the Russians, and communication suffers, the Starlink satellite system has become increasingly important to connect the drone units and other parts of the Ukrainian military.
Starlink allows the Ukrainian teams to communicate and share intelligence with each other even in very rural parts of the country.
The Ukrainian military also employs the Delta intelligence system, which includes “situational awareness” software that generates an interactive map integrating drone data, satellites, sensors, and human sources so that the Russian invaders can be tracked.
The Delta system was put to the test last year, according to The Telegraph, during the Sea Breeze military exercise in the Black Sea last year, which included the US, Ukraine, and 30 other Countries.
Ukraine's military has been bolstered by Western nations, which supplied radio communication equipment that surpassed the Soviet-era technology used by the Russians.
The Delta system may be accessed remotely using basic laptops. Ukraine, however, was concerned that Russia's continued assaults on Ukraine's telecommunications infrastructure would render the intelligence system useless.
Mr. Musk didn't respond right away, but after Ukraine's vice-prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov requested it on Twitter, he confirmed that he would supply Ukraine with Starlink stations.
Russia reacted with anger to the involvement of Starlink in Ukraine.
“This is the West that we should never TRUST. When Russia implements its highest national interests on the territory of Ukraine, Elon Musk appears with his Starlink which was previously declared as purely civilian,” Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. “I warned about it, but our “muskophiles” said he is the light of world cosmonautics. Here, look, he has chosen the side.”
A “megaconstellation” of hundreds of tiny satellites orbits the Earth at 340 miles above the surface, forming Starlink. The goal is to provide internet access with speed that can rival home broadband connections in rural and under-connected areas of the world.
Truckloads of Starlink terminals, including adaptors that allow them to be powered by connecting to a vehicle's cigarette lighters or battery packs, as well as a “roaming” option for when they're on the road, arrived soon after Starlink was turned on in Ukraine.
On Sunday Starlink became the most downloaded app in Ukraine. More than 100,000 people in the country are using the connection.
Drones, Delta and Starlink
The combination of drones, Delta, Starlink, and a well-trained Ukrainian military appears to be the winning mix.
Even if Ukraine's regular internet were to be lost, Aerorozvidka's drone units should still be able to communicate and execute drone missions utilizing mobile Starlink terminals.
With the drone units being so effective in crippling the Russian army, the United States has offered additional military support that includes Switblades 300 drones, also known as killer drones.
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