Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system is helping Ukrainian forces win the drone war as they use the technology in their effort to track and kill invading Russians.
In the vanguard of Ukraine's astonishingly effective military effort against Vladimir Putin's forces is a unit called Aerorozvidka (Aerial Reconnaissance) which is using surveillance and attack drones to target Russian tanks and positions.
Amid internet and power outages, which are expected to get worse, Ukraine is turning to the newly available Starlink system for some of its communications.
Drone teams in the field, sometimes in badly connected rural areas, are able to use Starlink to connect them to targeters and intelligence on their battlefield database. They can direct the drones to drop anti-tank munitions, sometimes flying up silently to Russian forces at night as they sleep in their vehicles.
“In the night it’s impossible to see our drones,” said an Aerorozvidka soldier.
— The Times (@thetimes) March 18, 2022
🗣️“We look specifically for the most valuable truck in the convoy and then we hit it precisely and we can do it really well with very low collateral damage — even in the villages it’s possible” pic.twitter.com/pDoHFlX5uM
PD-1 unmanned aerial vehicles, which have a wingspan of 3m and are fitted with infrared sensors, are also used to collect information on Russian troop movements. The Kremlin has responded furiously to the involvement of Starlink in Ukraine.
Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said: "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.
"I warned about it, but our 'muskophiles' said he is the light of world cosmonautics. Here, look, he has chosen the side."
The Ukrainian drone unit uses a sophisticated system called Delta which has been built over recent years with help from Western advisers and can be accessed from basic laptops.
It includes "situational awareness" software which creates an interactive map, incorporating imagery from drones, satellites, sensors and human intelligence so the enemy can be tracked. Delta is said to be compatible with Nato systems, and to have been tested in the Sea Breeze military exercise in the Black Sea last year, which involved the US, Ukraine and 30 other nations.
The Ukrainian system benefited from equipment given by Western countries, including radio communications which superceded Soviet-era technology, and the US has also poured in millions of dollars to protect against Russian hacking, jamming of signals and attempts to "spoof" GPS technology.
However, there have been fears it could be affected by internet disruption as Russia continues to degrade Ukraine's infrastructure. Shortly after Russia's invasion Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's vice-prime minister, asked Musk on Twitter to "provide Ukraine with Starlink stations".
Within hours Musk tweeted back:
Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2022
Starlink uses a "megaconstellation" of thousands of small satellites orbiting the Earth at 340 miles (547km) above the planet's surface. The aim is to bring internet access to rural and poorly connected parts of the globe.
Base stations on Earth beam radio waves up to the satellites, which in turn send them down to a satellite dish terminal on the ground. Internet connections can be fast because they travel through the vacuum of space, and Starlink's lower orbit allows for signals to travel more quickly, meaning speeds can rival home broadband connections.
More than 2000 satellites have been launched to date, with plans for around 12,000 in total. In the 48 hours after Starlink was turned on in Ukraine, trucks arrived carrying Starlink terminals which include a satellite dish. There were also adapters allowing them to be powered by connecting to vehicle cigarette lighters, or battery packs, and a "roaming" feature for connectivity on the move.
Handle video calls
At least one more delivery has taken place since in the effort to keep Ukraine's population online. On Sunday Starlink became the most downloaded app in Ukraine, and more than 100,000 people in the country are using the connection, which can handle video calls and other "high-data" functions. But its usefulness for the military is also becoming increasingly apparent.
Should Ukraine's internet largely collapse, the "drone warriors" of Aerorozvidka would still be able to communicate with their bases by sending signals from mobile Starlink terminals, and using ground stations in neighbouring countries including Poland.
For the Aerorozvidka volunteers, it is a long way from the beginnings of the unit in 2014. It was formed following the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine by a group of civilian model airplane enthusiasts and people with engineering backgrounds.
They helped build drones and sensors for the military to monitor the border, including fitting cameras on top of tall poles. They also adapted commercially available drones to gather intelligence and drop homemade explosives, and began making their own missiles.
A crowdfunding effort was launched to help build a large attack drone. In the first few years two members of the unit were killed, including co-founder Kochetkov-Sukach Vladimir Vyacheslavovich.
As it became increasingly successful it was integrated into the organisational structure of the Ukrainian armed forces, allowing them to share intelligence with the army and air force, and interact and be trained by foreign military advisers.
Now the drone squads face increasing danger as the Russians try to track them, and they have to move frequently. Drones are proving so effective that the Pentagon feels supplying Ukraine with aircraft is not necessary. Instead, it is now sending more lethal Switchblades - so-called "kamikaze drones" - which were designed for US special forces, can be carried in a backpack and can destroy a tank.
As Ukraine's internet is inevitably degraded, Starlink will be an alternative. General James Dickinson, commander of US Space Command, told the Senate armed services committee: "What we're seeing with Elon Musk and the Starlink capabilities is really showing us what a megaconstellation, or a proliferated architecture, can provide in terms of redundancy and capability."
B-2 bombers and refuelling jets flew off the California coast overnight.