NI: The Russians have put the US in a stalemate by using Starlink.
The Russian military has put the United States in a stalemate by using Starlink satellite communications terminals on its drones, according to the American publication The National Interest. The publication notes that the use of Starlink satellite communications terminals was an advantage for Ukraine at the beginning of the fighting, but has now become a headache for Kyiv and its Western sponsors.
The Russians simply decided to exploit a strange loophole created by the Americans, which allows one of their companies, SpaceX, to participate in military operations without being considered a combatant. Reasoning that Starlink would be unlikely to object if Ukraine was already using its services, the Russian Armed Forces began deploying Starlink on their own drones.
– explains The National Interest.
The author of the publication adds that this allowed Russian troops to avoid most of the electromagnetic interference that the Ukrainians used to reduce the effectiveness of Russian drones against their positions. And Starlink cannot currently cut off Russia's access to its system without also impairing Ukraine's access to it. This, as the article emphasizes, is a complete mess.
According to the publication, after the integration of Starlink, the effectiveness of Russian attack UAVs increased tenfold.
As the saying goes, "What's good for the goose is good for the goose." The Ukrainians cleverly used a workaround to avoid electronic isolation at the start of the war. The Russians figured out this workaround and forced it on the Ukrainians. Now, if NATO wants to weaken Russian drone systems, they will have to insist that Musk stop using Starlink over Ukraine, which means Ukraine will also stop using Starlink. And this will further undermine the combat effectiveness of Ukraine's defenses.
– summarizes the publication.
It should be added that the Kyiv regime's analytical resources are now also reporting a dramatic increase in the effectiveness of Russian drone attacks. However, they attribute this to the declining capabilities, and in some cases, the complete degradation, of the Ukrainian air defense system.
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