The jamming complex helps Russia counter Starlink in Ukraine

News agency Reuters On July 8, four Ukrainian commanders and drone pilots said that the Russian military is developing many methods to protect the logistics network from attacks by medium-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the enemy.

Using electronic jamming devices to block UAV control signals is one of the solutions mentioned.

Soldiers from the 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment of Ukraine, fighting in Zaporizhzhia province, confirmed that Russia has installed jamming devices near towns and military facilities, some of which are powerful enough to disrupt the operation of the Starlink satellite Internet network operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

Most of the medium-range UAVs that Ukraine is deploying are equipped with Starlink transceivers. This device helps the operator control the aircraft from a distance and is said to be almost immune to conventional jamming measures.

Serhii Beskrestnov, an electronic warfare expert and currently an advisor to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, said Russia is deploying an electronic warfare system called “Volna Kupol Garant”, capable of transmitting a signal strong enough to lose Starlink connections in an area of ​​20 square kilometers. “Ukraine has discovered at least 10 such devices,” he said.

According to Beskrestnov, the Volna Kupol Garant system is produced by the Russkiy Kupol company based in the city of Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula.

“Technically, the Starlink satellite receives signals from the terminal in the 14-14.5 GHz frequency band. The frequency bands are divided into 8 channels, each channel has a bandwidth of 6.25 MHz. Russia points 8 dish antennas towards the satellite, each dish will emit a jamming signal on a separate channel and so the satellite is ‘blinded’,” he said.

Each complete system appears to be placed on six trailers, each carrying two antennas, which can be operated by an external power source or a transmitter located on the trailer. “The antenna looks like an egg from the outside, but inside is a satellite dish with a rotating mechanism,” Beskrestnov said.

Rob Lee, an expert at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Russia has achieved some success in its efforts to counter medium-range attacks from Ukraine. “If they can boost production of this jamming device, they will make it more difficult for Ukraine to conduct raids on the rear,” he said.

SpaceX and the Russian Ministry of Defense have not commented on the information.

The Volna Kupol Garant system is currently the priority target of Ukrainian UAV units.

Ukraine’s 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment participated in the raid on two devices. One of them was hit just a few hours after being exposed, within the framework of a joint mission with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). “As soon as we hit that system, the UAVs equipped with Starlink transceivers operated freely again,” said a commander with the Dyryhent call sign.

In addition to using jamming devices, Russia also applies a number of tactics to protect its technical logistics network. “They used water and milk trucks to transport fuel. Some were attacked and burned,” said Kolesnyk, commander of a Ukrainian unmanned equipment unit.

According to Ukrainian commanders, Russian forces currently deploy small convoys of fuel vehicles protected by pickup trucks with machine guns, moving on small roads to avoid detection, as well as using civilian vehicles to transport supplies.

Ukrainian military intelligence said Russia used small civilian cars, four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles and motorbikes to transport fuel, ammunition and food to the front lines. They also used camouflaged bunkers, abandoned buildings and agricultural structures to hide supplies, as well as civilian gas stations to store fuel for the military.

Ukraine is conducting a medium-range UAV attack campaign targeting logistics routes, fuel depots, air defense positions and Russian command posts dozens of kilometers away from the front line, disrupting the enemy’s logistics system and causing fuel shortages on the Crimean peninsula.

However, the above campaign could not prevent Russia from conducting large-scale coordinated raids on Ukraine, and the situation on the front lines did not change. In addition, not all Ukrainian UAV attacks are successful.

During the Reuters reporter’s visit, the Ukrainian 422nd Regiment launched a RAM-2X UAV aimed at a Russian fuel tanker, but missed the target. The reconnaissance UAV deployed to track the vehicle was also shot down by the Tor short-range air defense system.

“At least now we know it’s there,” a member of the UAV operations team said, before marking the location of the Tor complex in the digital battlefield target location system.