In the war in Ukraine, the satellite internet Starlink is a great help for the Ukrainian troops. As recently leaked secret documents from the Pentagon now show, Russia allegedly attacked the system with technical defense methods with the aim of disrupting it, at least temporarily. That reports the Washington Post.
It definitely should a Russian electronic warfare system called “Tobol” to be used. Not much is known about it. However, the necessary devices are apparently connected to ground stations for satellite tracking.
It is not clear what purpose they serve exactly. However, it appears to be protective measures for the Russian satellite network.
What do we know?
The classified information from the Pentagon now suggests that the system is also capable of jamming enemy satellites. According to the Washington Post, Russia allegedly attacked the Starlink network over Ukraine with its help for a total of 25 days in September and October 2022.
Both uplink interference an interfering signal mixes with the original data transmission, distorting the information received by all users of that satellite. Tobol almost certainly works this way, according to Bart Hendrickx, a researcher who analyzed the Russian program. Starlink satellites would fly so low around Earth that jamming signals could probably be beamed at them.
In the ground sturgeon method, down disturbance called, a signal is sent on the same frequency as the satellite. This prevents connected devices from receiving the legitimate signal. This method has a smaller effective range – the jammer must be close to the target.
More frequent network outages
There is no information in the Pentagon documents as to whether the jamming attempts were successful or not. Starlink publisher SpaceX also declined to comment on the attacks at the request of the Washington Post.
However, Ukraine has repeatedly reported network outages in recent months, especially along the frontline. Even then, Starlink and Elon Musk had only evaded comment on whether it was a targeted shutdown in the combat zones.
It is also possible that Russian disruptive measures were at least partly responsible for the failures. However, this has not been proven so far.
The classified documents reviewed by the American journalists come from the so-called “Discord Leaks”. Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old young man serving in the US National Guard, posted hundreds of top-secret military documents on a chat channel.
The information included current assessments of the military situation in Ukraine.
Sources
- washingtonpost.com: Russia tests secret weapon to attack SpaceX’s Starlink in Ukraine
(t-online/dsc)
Source: Watson
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
