Destroying submarine internet cables between the US and Europe would hit both Starlink communications in Ukraine and SpaceX as a whole
The fact that communication in war is one of the key factors for victory has been said many times. Much has been said about the fact that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (RF Armed Forces) have certain problems with communications, so volunteers have to purchase civilian radio stations to be sent to the zone of the special military operation (SVO). However, the problem is not even in this, but in the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) have everything in order with communications - they are supplied with the latest, digital, Western-made radio stations that are protected from listening. But most importantly, they are provided with Starlink satellite communication terminals manufactured by SpaceX.
Starlink terminals not only provide the Armed Forces with global high-speed communications, but also allow them to create remote-controlled strike weapons. Starlink terminals are installed on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of a quadrocopter (octacopter / hexacopter) type, capable of conducting reconnaissance at a great distance and dropping ammunition on the positions and equipment of the Russian troops. Starlink terminals are installed on stealth remote-controlled kamikaze boats that can be used against the Russian fleet or infrastructure facilities. Starlink terminals can be installed on long-range kamikaze UAVs, with the help of which the Armed Forces of Ukraine will try to deliver the most painful high-precision strikes in the depths of the territory of the Russian Federation - you should not compare them with cruise missiles, since feedback will increase the effectiveness of strikes by such UAVs by an order of magnitude.
Yes, it seems like Elon Musk limited the speed at which Starlink terminals can be used in the NWO zone, and also limited the possibility of their use on the territory of the Russian Federation, but who knows where the conflict will lead us, what decisions will be made and what commands it will (Elon Musk ) will receive.
So it turns out that the Starlink satellite communications network is still one of the highest priority targets for attack.
Impact Options
We have already talked about them. The most radical way is the physical destruction of most of the satellite constellation using orbital satellite interceptors, discussed in the material "Reaper" will clean up the orbit: you can shoot down Starlink satellites faster than Elon Musk can launch them. The problem is that we don’t have Reapers yet, and if somewhere in the depths of the Russian military-industrial complex (MIC) a certain Kosmos-X satellite with comparable capabilities is maturing, then nothing is known about it yet, how and about whether the leadership of the Russian Federation will decide on such radical actions as the destruction of the largest low-orbit satellite constellation of the enemy on the planet, albeit a civilian, commercial one.
The concept of the orbital interceptor "Reaper"
An even more difficult task is hunt for Starlink ground terminals. They are mobile, the communication signal pattern is oriented upwards, the signal is encrypted.
Is there any other way to harm Starlink?
Presumably, there are such opportunities, but you will have to act indirectly, for this you will have to ...
Blow up the submarine cables of the Internet
Perhaps this is the first thing that needed to be done immediately after the Western countries blew up the underwater part of the Nord Stream. Yes, it is difficult to do this, but do we have the Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research (GUGI) of the RF Ministry of Defense?
In the end, you can test Poseidon - we have suspended our participation in the treaty on measures to reduce and limit strategic offensive arms (START) - who knows what happened under water there, maybe it is the United States itself that secretly conducts nuclear tests under water - you can blame them for this. Or maybe use autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), carrying a powerful explosive charge, in the "kamikaze" mode.
Or maybe, on the contrary, nothing global is required - small kamikaze AUVs or underwater saboteurs can quite cope with this task - how realistic is it for the US Navy to ensure control over submarine cables throughout their route passing through the Atlantic ocean?
Even if only part of the cables can be damaged, the effect will be very significant, and not only political, but also economic. Many large companies, whose partners or branches are located overseas, constantly require a powerful Internet channel to provide remote access to employees. For example, when Boeing had an engineering center in Russia, all information was stored on servers in the United States, and the work of Russian engineers was carried out remotely. It is easy to imagine how difficult the activities of European and American companies working "on a remote basis" will be if the bandwidth of the Internet connection decreases several times, or even an order of magnitude or two.
Companies will suffer, but will do their best to stay afloat. How will they get out of the situation? They use all available communication channels, including satellite communication channels, including Starlink satellite communication, which, as we know, has become the basis for providing high-speed global communications to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The higher the load on the Starlink satellite communications network, the worse the APU’s communication will be - more delay, lower speed. After all, SpaceX is a commercial company that puts profit first. There is no doubt that Elon Musk has not the slightest desire to get into the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but he is under pressure. However, the more problems Ukraine creates for his business, the more he will resist. Companies from Europe and the US will pay SpaceX money and demand high-quality communications for this. Even if Elon Musk does not turn off Starlink Ukraine, he may well reduce their data transfer speed and reduce the number of simultaneously available channels in order to provide preferential communication conditions for commercial companies, which, unlike Ukraine, will pay him for it money.
The deterioration in the quality of APU communications is only part of the puzzle. The consequences of destroying underwater Internet cables could be far greater.
Mixed Consequences
The destruction of transcontinental cables will cause a severe shortage in the Internet communications market between the US and Europe. And this problem cannot be solved in a short period of time, especially since there will be no guarantees that the newly laid submarine cables will not be damaged again.
This will inevitably cause a surge in demand for alternative ways to transfer data between continents, in particular, for the services of SpaceX and its Starlink satellite communications network. As we said earlier, this will most likely cause an increased load on the equipment of the Starlink network, which will force Elon Musk to choose between helping Ukraine or satisfying paying customers. But, even if SpaceX chooses a business, in an environment of increased demand, the emergence of competitors, such as OneWeb, is inevitable.
If now the development of OneWeb is largely constrained by the significant competitive advantages of SpaceX - they are the first, they have their own launch vehicles (LV), satellites, then in the event of an explosive growth in demand, the space communications services market is quite capable of accommodating one or two more players. Moreover, if new market participants do not appear, then there is a risk that SpaceX will be interested in the antimonopoly services of the United States and European countries, which may well forcibly split Elon Musk's business into its constituent elements - delivery vehicles (RN) separately, satellite production separately, communication services separately.
"Cub" - OneWeb satellite model
Thus, the destruction of transcontinental Internet communication cables in the short term may bring significant dividends to SpaceX, but in the long term it will deprive them of many competitive advantages, including the No. 1 position in the market for orbital communications services.
In addition, competitive pressure on Starlink could indirectly affect other areas of SpaceX's business, especially if there are any difficulties along the way. For example, the uncertain prospects for Starlink in the event of the active development of one or two competitors, combined with one or two accidents of a promising superheavy reusable rocket Starship, could potentially lead to the closure of the Starship launch vehicle project, and this, in turn, could save our country from serious troubles in the form of the US deployment of an orbital reconnaissance and strike echelon.
Thus, an underwater explosion can better clear the orbit than a promising anti-satellite weapon.
It is very likely that the destruction of submarine cables will force a reconsideration of the priorities of the American and European fleets - let them be in business, there is nothing for them to wipe out in the Black Sea or hunt for Russian strategic submarine missile carriers.
Soft power
After new players appear on the satellite communications market, it would be advisable to make life as difficult as possible for all of them. For example, to stimulate protests by environmental organizations and animal advocates, because satellites disrupt the sleep of polar bears and contribute to the extinction of the Canadian weevil.
The weevil dying out due to Starlink looks at Elon Musk with reproach...
The claims of astronomers to SpaceX are also quite justified - you give a clear sky above your head. Do not forget about the claims of the alternatively gifted part of the planet's population, because, like 5G towers, Starlink satellites and their analogues clearly negatively affect the human aura and contribute to the spread of coronavirus. There is a court, here is a manifestation, and somewhere the vandalism of disgruntled citizens, as they say, is a trifle, but nice.
At the state level, you can work with independent states - often satellite constellations require ground base stations to increase the efficiency of their work. You can put pressure on SpaceX and their competitors with the threat of destroying their satellites, for example, demonstration of the possibility of a successive passage past them by the Russian satellite "inspector", which will send detailed images of potential targets to Earth.
Satellite communications networks may be subject to attacks by hacker groups, some may simply fail suddenly, the combat laser complex (BLK) "Peresvet" is capable of this?
Conclusions
It is necessary to fight the enemy’s communications by all possible means, and if this also allows inflicting large financial damage on the Western sponsors of Ukrainian Nazism, then why not?
The explosion of underwater Internet cables was supposed to take place immediately after the Nord Stream gas pipeline was destroyed. This is the only way to show the enemy the seriousness of your intentions, and not at all by drawing mythical “red lines”.
In addition, in addition to direct damage to the economies of the Western countries, the destruction of submarine Internet cables would most likely affect the deterioration in the quality and availability of satellite communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and potentially the hard-to-predict ups and downs of players in the space communications services market, due to market instability. exacerbated by the factors of "soft power" discussed above.
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