Ukraine’s 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment has already taken out two of the roughly ten Russian “Volna Kupol Garant” jamming complexes that were deployed to disrupt the Starlink satellite network over the front, striking at least one unit within hours of detection.
How the Russian jammer works
The Volna Kupol Garant, developed by Rossiysky Kupol LLC in occupied Crimea, costs about $1.5 million per unit. Unlike typical downlink jammers that try to block the satellite signal reaching ground terminals, this system targets the uplink—the 14.0‑14.5 GHz Ku‑band signals Ukrainian drone terminals send up to the satellites. Each complex carries eight dish antennas, one for each 62.5 MHz channel, all aimed at a single overhead Starlink satellite.
By transmitting high‑power interference simultaneously on every channel, the system attempts to “blind” the satellite, preventing it from hearing legitimate uplink traffic from a 20‑square‑kilometre area below. Because the satellite sits roughly 550 km above Earth, the jammer must radiate enormous power to overwhelm the receiver. That power requirement is the system’s Achilles’ heel: the same emissions that make the jammer effective also make it easy to locate. Ukrainian drone crews, aided by radio‑reconnaissance satellites from partner nations, can pinpoint the radome‑covered trailers as soon as they turn on.
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Operational impact and Ukraine’s response
Starlink’s architecture, with more than 10,000 active satellites, further limits the jammer’s usefulness. Dozens of satellites are visible over Ukraine at any moment, each passing overhead for only a few minutes. The Volna Kupol Garant can engage only one satellite at a time, meaning it would need an implausibly large fleet to cover the whole constellation.
These rapid defeats illustrate why the jammer’s high‑power emissions are a double‑edged sword. The moment a unit powers up, it broadcasts a distinctive electromagnetic signature that Ukraine’s drones can chase down. The result is a tactical cycle: Russia deploys a jammer, Ukraine detects and destroys it, and Starlink connectivity returns to the battlefield.
In practice, the ability to restore satellite links within minutes means Ukrainian operators can keep their mid‑range strike drones—used to hit fuel depots, air‑defense sites, and logistics hubs—alive. The drones rely on Starlink for guidance and command‑and‑control; each successful strike on a jammer directly translates into another sortie that can disrupt Russian supply lines.
Russia’s longer‑term plans
Beyond electronic warfare, Russia is pursuing its own sovereign satellite constellation under the “Rassvet” (Dawn) program. United24 Media reports that the first 16 Rassvet satellites have been launched in test mode, aiming to provide short‑duration battlefield communications over Ukrainian territory. The effort signals a shift from trying to jam an existing foreign network to building a parallel one that can’t be turned off by a private company.
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Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone manufacturers are working on alternatives that do not depend on Starlink at all. The German‑supplied Helsing HX‑2, for example, uses onboard machine‑vision and terrain‑matching to operate without GPS or satellite links, offering a degree of resilience against any future jamming attempts.
For now, the front lines in Zaporizhzhia remain a battleground of drones and electronic counters. The distinctive egg‑shaped radomes of the Volna Kupol Garant sit on six‑trailer sets, each a $1.5 million target waiting to be found. Ukraine has identified about ten such systems along the front and has already destroyed two, with the remaining installations still transmitting and still vulnerable.
Each loss reduces Russia’s ability to interfere.