ยท 7 min read

Satellite Restrictions are Inducing Ukraine to Change How it Builds Drones

Starlink restrictions, and the threat of future satellite cuts, is forcing Ukraine to reconsider how to design drones for specific mission sets. Equipement choices will likely shift, alongside codification of temporary workarounds, and alternative links for connectivity.

Satellite Restrictions are Inducing Ukraine to Change How it Builds Drones

Starlink restrictions, a week ago, disrupted Ukrainian missions in 2 main ways: (a) by resulting in 10-20 seconds of connection loss in strike drones that made them harder to control and forced cancellation of attacks, and (b) by weakening the control reliability of satellite-connected interceptors against Russian jet drones flying above 400 km/h.

Both failures appear to have spurred Ukraine to change its drone designs for future missions.

Although connectivity above 400 km/h was restored on October 24, uncertainty over future access will likely push developers to preserve more mission functions when a connection disappears.

How Is Ukraine Adapting Its Drones?

(Note: Subscription is Free for this!)