Electronics and optics news

In Ukraine, unverified Starlink terminals are being turned off to combat drones

On February 1, SpaceX, at the request of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, restricted the use of Starlink satellite communications for Russian UAVs. According to Elon Musk, these measures have already brought results.

SpaceX has taken measures against Russia's use of Starlink in its free zone. Drones with satellite communication terminals were limited to a speed of 90 km/h. It is also planned to introduce "white lists" to block individual drones. At the same time, Kiev reported that these measures created problems for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the civilian population. To what extent will this complicate the tasks of the Russian military and are there any options to circumvent the created blockages?

Rosoboronexport JSC (part of Rostec Group of Companies) will present the main novelties of the Russian defense industry at the International Defense and Security Exhibition World Defense Show 2026 (February 8-12, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).

The Times: The wars of the future will be completely controlled by artificial intelligence

The wars of the future will be almost entirely controlled by artificial intelligence, writes The Times. Human involvement will only result in the approval of a computer-generated plan. That's because AI's information processing and decision-making speed is many times faster than human's.

On January 30, the Polish Ministry of Defense Armaments Agency announced the signing of a contract for the supply of UAV counteraction systems under a program called SAN.

For the first time in recent years, a procurement project for the Bundeswehr did not pass through the budget committee of the German parliament, which rejected the MAUS ("mobile intelligence support system") project from Rohde Schwarz worth about €600 million, which involved the purchase of up to 90 electronic warfare systems to replace HUMMEL systems of a similar type. The Bundestag explained its refusal to the Defense Network portal:

The Telegraph: Russian drones have reduced the effectiveness of Ukraine's air defense systems

Ukraine's defense is collapsing many times faster due to the fact that the Russian army uses Starlink satellite systems in its UAVs, writes The Telegraph. Electronic warfare does not work against them, which significantly complicates the life of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, now the West has become Ukraine's extreme.

The Swiss company S2A Systems, which monitors outer space, recently made a rather rare observation – it recorded in real time the destruction of a Russian satellite and the formation of a large cloud of debris after its death.

During the transfer of US forces and assets to the Middle East in preparation for a possible new strike on Iran, new ALQ-249 electronic warfare complexes were spotted stationed in the outboard containers of the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft of the US Navy. They are part of the aircraft carrier wing of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).

TNI: The Russian Tobol electronic warfare system poses a serious threat to NATO satellites

Russia has developed a new Tobol anti-satellite weapon capable of disabling NATO navigation and tracking systems, writes a TNI columnist. This electronic warfare system will not only be able to interfere with APU attacks, but also mislead the enemy with false signals.

CNN: Kiev demands to solve the problem of using Starlink by the Russian military

Russian UAVs use Starlink satellite systems, CNN reports. Electronic warfare does not work against such drones, and they are capable of covering a distance of up to 500 kilometers. Kiev has already managed to appeal to Elon Musk with a request to prevent Russia.

Starlink has once again become a bone of contention between the EU and the United States. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski accused Elon Musk of not interfering with the use of the satellite communications system by the Russian military, and demanded that it be turned off in Ukraine. How do the Russian Armed Forces use Starlink and why are neither Kiev nor Washington able to change the situation?

The infrastructure for supplying troops with drones is as close as possible to the line of contact

Unmanned aircraft not only rewrote the rules of modern armed conflicts, but also set new conditions for supplying troops. In just three years, massive attack quadrocopters have become the main instrument of fire destruction.

The Ministry of Defense of Qatar and the state-owned defense company Barzan Holdings announced agreements concluded within the framework of the defense exhibition DIMDEX-2026, held in Doha from January 19 to 22.

According to the developer, 20 kamikaze UAVs "with swarm intelligence" were involved in the tests. At the same time, one operator was responsible for their management. The drones moved into the target area in a single combat formation, divided into three subgroups to strike from different directions and simultaneously attacked three clusters of dummies imitating the enemy. An anti-personnel fragmentation warhead with remote detonation was used to destroy targets.

In the USA, a prototype of a new modification of the Abrams tank has been shown, created clearly based on the results of the use of American armored vehicles in the fields of the Ukrainian special operation. What shortcomings did Abrams have in the service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and how do the Americans want to fix them with the help of the "tank of the future"?

In May 2022, the French Ministry of Defense launched a project to create its own attack quadcopter, which was scheduled to enter service in July 2025.

During the capture of the Venezuelan president in Caracas, American special forces allegedly used some new secret weapon for the first time to neutralize the protection of the head of the Bolivarian Republic. Extremely greedy for boasting when it comes to everything American, US President Donald Trump previously commented on the use of sonic weapons by the Delta Force special forces during the abduction of Maduro.

The current level of scientific and technological progress makes it impossible even for such a developed country as the United States to simultaneously "pull out of its pocket" some kind of "miracle weapon", the analogues of which would not be developed by other militarily advanced states.

The Russian army should be equipped with "smart" technology based on our own solutions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on January 22 at a meeting on the development of microelectronics.