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Russia wants to cut off Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, analysts said.
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It has been unsuccessful despite developing a growing arsenal of electronic warfare systems, they said.
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Satellites have proven to be vital in military operations and for communication among Ukrainian troops.
Russia wants Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk on Starlink satellitesaccording to space warfare analysts.
Since the beginning of the war, Russia has been using jamming systems to try to deny Ukrainian forces access to commercial satellites.
Yes jammers attached to their tanks interfering with satellite signals and interfering with exploding drones, Ukraine’s GPS-guided bombs are jammedand Ukrainian drones jammedto force the Ukrainian operators move closer their goals on the front lines.
Access to satellites played a vital role in Ukraine’s defense against Russia, especially access to Musk’s satellite network.
Satellite Internet kept Ukrainians online and their businesses running during the war. It’s also easier for soldiers to communicate on the front lines and for weapon systems and drones to continue operating.
At the same time, Russian jamming is getting better at interfere with the most advanced weapons in Ukraineblocking Ukraine’s fighting ability.
However, Russian efforts to cut off Ukraine’s access to Starlink satellites have so far failed, space warfare analysts said.
Jam-proof signs
Brian Weeden, chief program officer for the nonprofit Secure World Foundation, told Business Insider: “Russia would like to find a way to deny Ukraine’s use of Starlink. But that’s much easier said than done because on the architecture of the constellations.”
Starlink’s signals are stronger and more concentrated because its satellites operate at a much lower altitude than geostationary satellites, on the Starlink website.
Because Starlink satellites are closer to Earth, latency — the delay between user activity and network response — is shorter. This speeds up streaming, online gaming, video conferencing, and other activities.
In the context of electronic warfare, this makes Starlink signals much harder to jam, Weeden said. That means Russian hackers haven’t been able to hack Starlink until now, he said.
Although there are “few” open details about Russian electronic attacks on Starlink, Weeden said his efforts do not appear to have been very successful.
Kari Bingen, director of the Aerospace Security Project and senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “They’re always trying, but they don’t seem to be very successful.”
She said Starlink satellites are “resilient” and “agile,” with Starlink operators constantly updating their software to defeat Russian attacks.
Satellites hit
According to the Counterspace Timeline at the Aerospace Security Project, Russia has attempted to engage, target or infiltrate foreign satellite networks several times since its invasion of Ukraine.
On the first day of the invasion on February 24, 2022, Russian hackers sent cyber weapon against Viasat, an American satellite communications provider offering military communications services to Ukraine.
The attack hit a large number of satellite communication stations and affected hundreds of thousands of people in Ukraine and Europe.
According to US assessment of the cyber attack, Russia launched a cyber strike against commercial satellite communications networks to disrupt command and control of Ukraine during the initial invasion.
In March 2022, Finnair reported several cases of GPS jamming when its airlines were close to Kaliningrad, Russia, according to Reuters.
At the time, there was the president of Finland, Sauli Niinisto a meeting with Joe Biden to discuss strengthening defense ties between Finland and NATO in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
SpaceX, which owns Starlink, also came under attack in April 2022.
Its engineers fought off Russian jamming attacks by updating the system’s software, the Pentagon official said said BI at the time.
I post on X a month after the attack, Musk said that Starlink “has resisted the Russian cyberwar jamming and hacking efforts so far.”
He added, however, that Russian hackers were “stepping up their efforts.”
No other Russian attacks or hacking attacks against Starlink have been reported or publicly communicated.
SpaceX declined to give BI updates on Russian jamming or hacking efforts on its Starlink satellites.
Arsenal is growing in Russia
Russia is developing an arsenal of electronic warfare systems aimed at jamming communications satellites, according to Space Watch Global.
These are R-330Zh Zhitel, a mobile jamming communication station mounted on a truck, and Bylina-MM, a system designed to suppress communication satellites, the outlet reported.
They have antennas mounted on trucks that transmit a high power signal to try to saturate all the receivers tuned into the Starlink frequencies.
Another is the mobile Krasukha-4 EW system, which can combat airborne early warning and control systems (AWACS) and other airborne radars at a range of about 186 miles, according to Space Watch Global.
According to a leaked US classified information document received by the Washington Post last year, Russia has been testing its Tobol electronic warfare systems for several months, hoping to jam Starlink signals.
Russia also has a wide range of anti-space weapons, such as anti-satellite direct-launch missiles (ASAT) and powerful lasers that can destroy satellites in orbit.
Ukraine strikes back
Ukraine he is targeting them. Last July it appeared that Ukrainian special forces destroyed Tirada and electronic system “Leer-2” with drones in video divided by the command of the forces.
In November, the Ukrainian military reported that they had destroyed numerous Russian systems including “Hole-21” electronic warfare system and a Svet-KU.
As far as January, the same special forces said they helped destroy Russia’s Tirada-2, a portable radio-electronic suppression system designed to jam communications satellites, which was jamming satellite communications in eastern Ukraine.
Bingen said it is “not surprising” that Ukrainian forces would want to remove these divers from the battlefield because they are degrading drones and precision munitions.
“This genre, this area of electronic warfare, is only going to grow,” Bingen said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
