Drone strike on Spirit-030: Ukraine destroys Russian satellite antenna for the first time
With Starlink blocked for Russia, Moscow is bringing small GEO terminals of the Spirit-030 type to the front. A Ukrainian drone strike has now hit one of these stations for the first time – which satellite it uses remains unclear.
In a drone strike, an operator of the 414th Separate Unmanned Strike Systems Brigade 'Magyar's Birds' has for the first time located and destroyed a Russian Spirit-030 satellite communications station.
Before completing the strike, the pilot briefly inspected the antenna while hovering.
Erstes russische „Spirit-030“ Satellitenterminal mit ~30cm Antenne für GEO das Opfer einer ukrainischen Drohne wurde.#WarOfDrones pic.twitter.com/ybgRLCB4Yh
A small target for the drone strike
What sets the system apart is its size: for an antenna communicating with satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO), it is very small. Dishes of 60 to 120 centimetres in diameter are common, and reconnaissance easily spots them. Spirit-030, by contrast, makes do with a small rectangular reflector measuring around 30 centimetres diagonally.
On his channel, Serhiy 'Flash' Beskreznov, a Ukrainian specialist in communications and electromagnetic warfare, calls on Ukrainian drone pilots to 'watch out for this target'.
Together with Starlink operator Space X, Ukraine has introduced a whitelist for all Starlink terminals in Ukraine and Russia. Russia has since been excluded from satellite communications via Starlink. According to Beskreznov, the Russians are now delivering Spirit-030 terminals to the front in large numbers.
The terminals were first used during the Russian-Belarusian military exercise 'Zapad-2025'. The compact, suitcase-sized device has a fold-out antenna and provides stable links to unit command posts.
A platoon commander of the Russian signal troops with the call sign 'Mozart' described the systems to the Russian military TV channel Zvezda as follows:
These portable satellite systems are very good, mobile and inconspicuous. They are easy to install and the signal is stable. We have had no problems with them at all. They provide full satellite communications – telephony and everything else. Everything is encrypted— Platoon commander 'Mozart', Russian signal troops, to Zvezda
It remains unclear which GEO satellite Russia uses to communicate via the new 30-centimetre antenna.
Photo credits
© Archiv
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