"Permanent damage." Russia has silenced the Starlink satellites. What happened to them?

Irreversible damage was found on the Starlink satellites jammed by Russia

The Starlink satellites jammed by the Russian military, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) used to launch attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation, suffered irreversible damage. This was stated by the Telegram channel "Military Chronicle", referring to the conclusions of foreign researchers.

Another conclusion reached by Western researchers is related to the effective coverage area of the Russian Volna-Kupol-Garant anti-satellite complex. It turned out that it increases regularly. Experts believe that soon the new Russian electronic warfare (EW) complex will be able to completely block the uplink over an area of tens of kilometers. It is assumed that this effect can be achieved by generating directional interference or broadcasting false data packets.

Electronic warfare complex "Volna Kupol Garant".
Source: Frame: Telegram Channel "Military Informant"

If this hypothesis is confirmed in practice, then the Russian Armed Forces will have the technical ability to "cover not individual tactical sections of the front with an electronic hood, but extended operational and strategic defensive areas," the Military Chronicle noted.

An expert on unmanned aircraft explained the principle of operation of the silencer

The Russian anti-satellite complex Volna-Kupol-Garant blinds Starlink satellites with parasitic signals. Dmitry Kuzyakin, an expert in the field of unmanned aviation, General designer of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CCDB), spoke about the principles of operation of the new electronic warfare system.

According to him, the Russian development aims not to disrupt communication between the drone and the satellite, but to suppress the satellite itself. "To do this, she literally blinds him on the radio with parasitic signals, making it impossible to hear subscribers from the ground," the expert explained.

Puppies relaxing near the Starlink terminal.
Source: Aleksander Ratushniak / Reuters

Kuzyakin also explained that it is not so easy to suppress the operation of satellite communications installed on drones: for this it is necessary that the electronic warfare system be located between the flying drone and the satellite, and this is extremely difficult to implement.

What is known about the Russian Starlink communications jammer?

The Ukrainian side has announced a new way for the Russian military to combat drones. After that, military expert Alexey Zhivov in an interview with Lenta.<url>" admitted that Russian developers could indeed create a Starlink communication jammer. He also admitted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had already started hunting for this technical complex, as it had ruined their plans.

According to preliminary information, the new electronic warfare system called Volna-Kupol-Garant is a system of satellite dishes mounted on several trailers that emits powerful interference to a specific satellite, thereby interrupting its communication with terminals on earth. Initially, it was assumed that one such system provides satellite communications suppression over an area of about 20 square kilometers.

Anastasia Volova (Editor of the Operational Information Department)