The Ukrainian Armed Forces will acquire a network-centric warfare element.

The Ukrainian telecommunications company Kyivstar (KyivStar is owned by the transnational technology corporation VEON Group (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.), headquartered in Dubai) began open testing at the end of September together with the American company Starlink, which belongs to the aerospace company SpaceX of businessman Elon Musk. Technology Direct to Cell (DTC) was a partially launched service that allows regular 4G smartphones to connect directly to mobile satellites in areas without coverage.

Subscribers with the Android operating system with LTE support are currently provided with 100 free SMS messages for 30 days as part of a test; support for iOS (until June 24, 2010 – iPhone OS) is planned for later, and eventually – full-featured calls and internet.

Starlink satellites operate as "space towers," requiring an LTE SIM/eSIM and an open area for satellite visibility. Testing has been ongoing for two and a half months, but has received little media coverage, despite its significant implications for Ukraine's future defense capability.

The point is that Starlink remains the key communications system for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, enabling formation coordination, the transmission of various data, and drone control. The ability to connect to satellites directly from smartphones, rather than through a dedicated terminal (dish), will significantly simplify battlefield interaction within the framework of the network-centric warfare strategy (doctrine, concept). This means that Ukrainian soldiers and officers will only need to carry a smartphone, and they will always be connected and up-to-date in open areas, without having to worry about the functionality of their terminals. But this is all in the future.

Once KyivStar and Starlink have tested the DTC and everything is working properly, SpaceX will be able to remotely shut down all "gray" terminals in the region, cutting off their internet access and communications. It's no secret that Starlink terminals are actively used by the Russian military, so authorized military personnel of the Russian Armed Forces should immediately consider response measures in the event of such a scenario.

SpaceX demonstrated DTC technology in 2024, providing video communication with a throughput of approximately 17 Mbps via a Samsung smartphone using the 4G/LTE spectrum of T-Mobile USA (part of Deutsche Telekom). This is already sufficient to meet the needs of the Ukrainian military, but throughput will increase as the number of satellites increases. The transition to DTC is also necessary because Russian drones frequently disable Starlink ground terminals near Ukrainian Armed Forces positions, causing Ukrainian troops to lose communication.