Russia plans to begin mass production of electronic warfare systems against Starlink; the ISW has outlined their shortcomings
Russia announced the start of mass production of the “Volna Kupol Garant” electronic warfare system, which, according to Russian officials, is capable of disrupting Starlink satellite communications. At the same time, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) view these claims as part of Russia’s cognitive warfare campaign aimed at influencing U.S. decisions regarding Ukraine’s access to Starlink over Russian territory.
The Russian side claims that the system can allegedly interfere with Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit.
According to Russia, the system uses a powerful, narrowly focused radio signal designed to blind the satellites’ receiving antennas. The Russians also claim that the simultaneous use of several such systems could temporarily paralyze Starlink’s operations.
At the same time, analysts view these claims with skepticism.
The ISW notes that the Ukrainian military has already struck “Volna-Kupol-Garant” systems on multiple occasions, using drones equipped with alternative communication technologies.
Analysts point out another important feature of the Russian system—its stationary nature.
“The ‘Volna Kupol Garant’ system, appears to be largely stationary, which limits its effectiveness in protecting mobile equipment—the primary target of Ukrainian drones equipped with the Starlink system,” the ISW notes.
According to analysts, Moscow is trying to create the impression that “Volna Kupol Garant” is capable of reliably protecting Russian rear-area facilities from drones using Starlink.
In this way, Russia may be seeking to convince both its own population and Western countries that granting Ukraine access to Starlink over Russian territory would supposedly make no sense.
At the same time, the ISW emphasizes that the new electronic warfare system will not necessarily provide effective protection for Russia’s border regions, especially when it comes to mobile targets.
Analysts cite the system’s high cost and limited range as another factor that could limit the scale of its deployment.
“The ‘Volna Kupol Garant’ system is likely to face challenges due to its high cost—$1.5 million per system—and limited range of 20 square kilometers,” the ISW concludes.
Thus, despite Russia’s claims of mass production of the new electronic warfare system, analysts consider its capabilities to be limited and view the information campaign surrounding the system as part of Moscow’s efforts to influence Western decisions regarding Ukraine’s use of Starlink.
This was reported by analysts at the Institute for the Study of War.
Earlier, OSINT analysts reported an unusually high number of satellite overflights resembling Starlink over Russian territory.
