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Оксана СтепураWar
29 October 2026, 15:39
2026-10-29
Russia may be able to control "Shaheds" and missiles in real time through its own Starlink analogue — Flash
Russia is deploying its own Starlink analogue, the Rassvet satellite system, which will allow it to control Shaheds and missiles in flight in the future. For now, the Russians are short of satellites, but that could change quickly. Presidential Adviser on Defense Technologies Sergei “Flash” Beskrestnov warns that this will be a problem not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe and the United States.
Russia is deploying its own Starlink analogue, the Rassvet satellite system, which will allow it to control Shaheds and missiles in flight in the future. For now, the Russians are short of satellites, but that could change quickly. Presidential Adviser on Defense Technologies Sergei “Flash” Beskrestnov warns that this will be a problem not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe and the United States.
Russia now has about 40 Rassvet satellites. They are already flying over Ukraine and providing communication, but not for long — about 40–60 minutes. Therefore, to control the Shahed directly via satellite, they need to time the flight so that the drone is in the right place exactly when communication appears there. It is not easy to do this now.
But if the number of satellites increases to 200-250, according to Flash, Russia will be able to provide constant communication over all of Ukraine. Then the Russian military will be able to control drones and missiles in real time. So they can transmit commands to them and adjust the guidance after launch.
"I'm sounding the alarm as much as I can because Russia could launch this project very quickly," Beskrestnov says.
Sanctions, he said, may not prevent this. Russia is able to find the necessary components to circumvent restrictions, and it can turn to China for help in launching satellites.
Flash also claims that with the development of "Rassvet", Russia will be able to use satellite communications to control drones over European countries as well.
"We are now trying to tell the world that this is not a problem for Ukraine, it is a problem for everyone — for Europe, for the USA. Because these very mysterious UAVs that are now flying there from time to time somewhere over Europe, they will fly with the new control system "Rassvet". That is, this is a problem, a challenge," says "Flash."
Ukraine is already looking for ways to counter the new system. One option is powerful electronic warfare equipment that would jam satellite communications. But, according to Flash, their development and deployment would require time and significant funds.
Previously, dev.ua wrote that Russian Rassvet satellites already provide several communication sessions over Ukraine per day.
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