On August 2, Dmitry Kuzyakin, chief designer of Russia’s Center for Comprehensive Unmanned Solutions, told journalists about the “Volna Kupol Garant” EW complex, which he claims can “blind” Starlink satellites with a directed radio signal and is already in active use.
According to Kuzyakin’s description, the system generates a narrow, high-frequency beam that overloads the satellite’s receiving antennas and temporarily prevents it from receiving a signal from a ground terminal. After the “blinding” phase ends, the developer claims full restoration of communication takes several more minutes.
Technically, the “Volna Kupol Garant” operates in the Starlink reception band of 14–14.5 GHz, divided into eight channels of 62.5 MHz each: the complex generates interference across all eight channels simultaneously using a phased array antenna.
The deployment of systems of this type was reported by Reuters, citing commanders and operators of the 422nd Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment operating in the Zaporizhzhia direction. According to their data, Russia is indeed employing new EW systems against drones equipped with Starlink terminals. Ukraine’s Defense Forces have already recorded the destruction of such complexes: one was destroyed in occupied Crimea.
Military expert Serhiy “Flash” Beskrestnov noted that the installation consists of six trailers with dish antennas housed under radio-transparent domes. It requires a powerful power source and costs approximately $1.5 million per unit. The suppression zone of a single complex covers roughly 20 km² — meaning an effective radius of only about 2.5 km around the installation.
According to Serhiy Beskrestnov’s assessment, the complex works against the satellite currently positioned over the coverage area, meaning the system must be continuously retargeted onto the next satellite for uninterrupted suppression.
The Starlink constellation comprises more than 10,000 active satellites, of which several dozen may simultaneously be within stable communication range of a specific terminal, cycling through every few minutes. Each one covers an area with a radius of approximately 1,000 km on the ground.
To “suppress” satellite communications even at a single fixed point on a continuous basis, an entire network of installations would be required, constantly retargeting onto successive satellites. This is precisely why “Flash” ironically described the purchase of such complexes at $1.5 million apiece as “spectacular,” pointing to the equipment’s limited effectiveness.