Although billionaire Elon Musk denied a Reuters report that Ukraine may disable access to the Starlink satellite internet used by the Armed Forces, the Ukrainian military is considering alternatives to the American service.
Although billionaire Elon Musk denied a Reuters report that Ukraine may disable access to the Starlink satellite internet used by the Armed Forces, the Ukrainian military is considering alternatives to the American service.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov assured that Ukraine already has an alternative to the Starlink system in case it is disconnected.
«Regarding Starlink… We are already working on this, there are alternatives. We are not disclosing it, but soon, together with the Ministry of Digital and the Ministry of Stratprom and our other colleagues from the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces, we will announce how we will have these solutions. But there is already a solution, there is an alternative», — the Minister of Defense said.
Co-founder of the Aerorozvidka NGO, Yaroslav Honchar, told whether Ukraine could be left without Starlink, what would happen in the event of a disconnection, and whether the Defense Forces have a backup plan.
He recalled similar previous experience that the military had, in particular, armed confrontations on enemy territory, where Starlink did not work. Referring to this, Yaroslav Honchav confidently stated that the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine must be ready to continue their tasks even in the event of a loss of Starlink communication.
Last summer, it became known that in 2022, the Ukrainian military asked Elon Musk to turn on the Starlink satellite internet in the occupied Crimea area, which they needed for the operation, but was refused.
It was previously reported that Musk’s decision, which prompted Ukrainian officials to ask him to turn on the satellites, was dictated by an acute fear that Russia would respond to Ukraine’s attack on Crimea with nuclear weapons. This fear was intensified after Musk’s conversations with senior Russian officials.
As reported by DOU, the commander of the UAV operator units, Igor Lutsenko, also mentioned the working conditions of the military without access to Starlink in a post on Facebook. «In Kursk, we are fighting where Starlink does not work. The solutions that are used there are complex and more expensive, less convenient, but they are there…», — he wrote.
Military serviceman Yegor Firsov also spoke about the Starlink alternative used by the occupiers.
«The enemy has created an alternative connection — these are Wi-Fi bridges — wide Wi-Fi, where you can connect to the Internet. We still have time. Don’t panic. But this resource must be used effectively, because problems can begin very unexpectedly», — Firsov noted.
The head of the «Return Alive» foundation, Taras Chmut, named several alternatives at once.
«Starlink is just one type of communication, there are wired, radio relay, VHF, LTE and others. In one of our recent projects „Pack the Sky“, we supplied mobile fire team backpacks containing all the necessary types of communication, including SIM cards», — Chmut listed.
Among the direct competitors of Starlink is the British OneWeb. This is a global satellite Internet system, which is being created by OneWeb Ltd. Each OneWeb terminal provides connectivity to hundreds of users and can operate on solar energy. OneWeb has about 550 low-orbit satellites and plans to launch dozens more. Earlier it was reported that Kyivstar would be the official representative of OneWeb in Ukraine, but later the company signed an agreement with Starlink.
Also in early summer 2023, Ukraine received the first terminals from the Swedish company Satcube. The company produces portable terminal antennas weighing 8 kg for satellite communications, which connect to the Internet via geostationary satellites. They are located at an altitude of 35,000 km. It was planned that Satcube would transfer about 100 more terminals for satellite communications to Ukraine.
