Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system is helping Ukraine’s elite drone unit destroy Russian weapons, according to The Times of London.
The Aerorozvidka airborne reconnaissance unit uses drones with thermal imaging cameras to see Russian military vehicles such as tanks and command vehicles at night, according to the newspaper. According to the newspaper, the drones were programmed to drop anti-tank grenades at targets.
“If we use a thermal vision drone at night, it should communicate via Starlink with the gunner and set up a target targeting system.– says “The Times of London” one of the leaders of the company Aerorozvidka.
The Starlink internet system allows drone teams to operate even in the event of power outages or internet outages common in war-torn Ukraine.
On February 26, Mikhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, asked Musk on Twitter to send Starlink stations to Ukraine. Musk complied, a day after texting Fedorov on Twitter that Starlink had been activated and more stations were on the way.
Starlink in Ukraine
According to Fedorov’s information on Twitter, as of March 1 Ukraine has received at least four shipments from Starlink terminals. A Ukrainian official tweeted for the last time about a new batch of Starlink stations that arrived in the country on Saturday.
Fedorov revealed in an interview with the Washington Post on Friday that Ukraine has also received internet antennas from European allies.
“The quality of the link is excellent,” Deputy Prime Minister Fedorov added. “We use thousands, about thousands, of stations, and new parcels arrive every two days,” he told the media via a Starlink call from an unknown location.
On March 4, Musk warned Starlink users in Ukraine to operate the system “only when needed” as they could become targets for attack during the ongoing war.
Fedorov said in an interview with The Post that while cyber security is a concern, Russian hackers have yet to disrupt the technology.
“It seems that they are now very busy attacking the websites of our small towns and villages,” he commented. “I think they’re not at this point yet.”
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