{"id":259265,"date":"2025-07-12T15:30:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T15:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/259265\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T15:30:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T15:30:22","slug":"russia-slaps-a-satellite-dish-on-a-boat-calls-it-a-starlink-killer-analysts-say-its-1990s-tech-united24-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/259265\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia Slaps a\u00a0Satellite Dish on\u00a0a\u00a0Boat, Calls It\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cStarlink Killer\u201d\u2014Analysts Say It\u2019s 1990s Tech \u2014 UNITED24 Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia has introduced a\u00a0new maritime drone called \u201cBreeze\u201d equipped with satellite communication technology, presenting it\u00a0as\u00a0a\u00a0domestic alternative to\u00a0Starlink. <\/p>\n

However, the system appears to\u00a0rely on\u00a0outdated communication methods that could severely limit its practical military\u00a0use.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Defense Express on\u00a0July 12, Russian companies Sea Project and Unmanned Logistics recently tested<\/a> the Breeze drone in\u00a0the White\u00a0Sea. Designed for transporting cargo to\u00a0remote northern regions, the drone is\u00a0slated for production in\u00a0Arkhangelsk region. <\/p>\n

Notably, its communication system includes a\u00a0Simrad maritime radar and a\u00a0spherical antenna housing the new RS-30M satellite terminal\u2014previously tested on\u00a0a\u00a0train.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cBreeze\u201d<\/a>
\n \u201cBreeze\u201d Maritime Drone Underway During Field Trials. (Photo: open source)<\/p>\n

Russia has positioned the RS-30M as\u00a0its answer to\u00a0the American Starlink system, but several critical limitations suggest otherwise. Unlike Starlink, which uses a\u00a0constellation of\u00a0low-Earth orbit satellites positioned roughly 550\u00a0km\u00a0above Earth, the RS-30M connects to\u00a0satellites in\u00a0geostationary orbit\u2014approximately 36,000 km\u00a0away. <\/p>\n

While this allows for broad coverage, it\u00a0introduces significant drawbacks, including signal latency as\u00a0high as\u00a0800\u00a0milliseconds and limited bandwidth of\u00a0only a\u00a0few megabits per second. In\u00a0contrast, Starlink typically offers latency around 40\u00a0milliseconds and speeds exceeding 200\u00a0Mbps.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0addition, the RS-30M relies on\u00a0a\u00a0mechanical, parabolic antenna that must be\u00a0physically aligned with a\u00a0satellite, a\u00a0method largely phased out in\u00a0modern systems. Starlink\u2019s phased array antenna enables dynamic, software-based tracking without moving parts\u2014technology commonly found on\u00a0next-generation UAVs.<\/p>\n

\"RS-30M<\/a>
\n RS-30M Satellite Antenna on\u00a0a\u00a0Russian Train During Initial Tests. (Photo: open source)<\/p>\n

In\u00a0effect, the RS-30M reflects a\u00a0technological regression. Similar SATCOM systems were installed on\u00a0US\u00a0military drones like the MQ-1 Predator in\u00a0the 1990s. Modern drones such as\u00a0the MQ-9 Reaper now use significantly more advanced antenna systems with greater performance.<\/p>\n

Due to\u00a0these limitations, the RS-30M is\u00a0unlikely to\u00a0support high-quality real-time video streaming or\u00a0provide the responsiveness required for controlling high-speed, long-range unmanned systems\u2014especially suicide drones such as\u00a0Russia\u2019s Shahed-type platforms. <\/p>\n

In\u00a0comparison, Ukraine has already demonstrated practical battlefield integration of\u00a0Starlink-based communication systems in\u00a0platforms like the RUBAKA<\/a> and UJ-26 \u201cBober<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wreckage<\/a>
\n Wreckage of\u00a0Ukrainian RUBAKA Drone With Visible Starlink Antenna. (Source: Russian media)<\/p>\n

If\u00a0Russian developers eventually achieve stable satellite control of\u00a0sea-based drones using RS-30M, this could introduce competition for Ukraine\u2019s naval drone capabilities. For now, however, the Breeze drone appears limited to\u00a0civilian logistics tasks, at\u00a0least officially. <\/p>\n

It\u00a0joins a\u00a0broader trend of\u00a0Russia adapting maritime drone concepts\u2014such as\u00a0the earlier \u201cKatran<\/a>,\u201d which shares its name and general layout with a\u00a0Ukrainian system but relies solely on\u00a0radio-based control, bringing additional vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

Despite the announcement, the RS-30M system\u2014both in\u00a0concept and performance\u2014remains behind current-generation standards.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Russia\u2019s Karbyshev Military Engineering Academy patented<\/a> a\u00a0foldable tank screen nearly identical to\u00a0Ukraine\u2019s improvised \u201chood\u201d anti-drone armor\u2014originally developed to\u00a0counter FPV and loitering munitions. Despite mimicking the Ukrainian design, the Russian patent claims it\u00a0to\u00a0be\u00a0\u201c1.5 times more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Support\"Logo\"Support the Armed Forces of Ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n

Donate Towards Robots, as Well as Other Military Equipment and Supplies to Help Ukraine\u2019s Defenders Fight Off Russian Invaders<\/p>\n

\n Related articles\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russia has introduced a\u00a0new maritime drone called \u201cBreeze\u201d equipped with satellite communication technology, presenting it\u00a0as\u00a0a\u00a0domestic alternative to\u00a0Starlink. However,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[70,413,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-259265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114840982274237886","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}