Originally published by Space Intel Report on April 28, 2025. Read the original article here.
(Source: Ukrainian Armed Forces)
LA PLATA, Maryland — A Ukrainian military officer outlined the relative advantages of LEO and GEO satellite communications in battlefield conditions and concluded that both are necessary.
Lt. Col. Koziy Serhiy Olehhovych, deputy head of satcom, J6 Ukraine Armed Forces, also stressed the importance of low-tech solutions such as camouflage to hide satellite terminals from Russia’s first-person-view (FPV) drones. He nonetheless said keeping terminal cost down was essential given how many of them were likely to be destroyed.
Lt. Col. Serhiy Koziy Olehhovych. (Source: GovSat video)
In a Feb. 22 address to the GovSatCom 2025 conference in Luxembourg, Olehhovych thanked supporters including GovSat, the joint venture of satellite operator SES and the Luxembourg government; Luxembourg’s Ministry of Defense and New York-based Quantum Trilogy for their assistance.
He said Ukraine’s military stands ready to work any other providers of new technology to help Ukraine defend its territory and “to help make you stronger and more resilient to future challenges.”
Multiple governments have funded the supply of satcom bandwidth and ground hardware to Ukraine in the past three years, giving Ukrainian forces the opportunity to compare the relative strengths in an environment where electronic jamming is rampant.
Olehhovych said the use of LEO systems — he did not name Starlink, but he was surely referring to it — in the war’s early months allowed Ukraine to maintain communications to coordinate troops, request support and transmit intelligence at a time when the terrestrial communications infrastructure was destroyed.
“LEO satellite systems have become a key element of tactical communications of the armed forces of Ukraine, ensuring effective and reliable of communications in combat conditions,” Olehhovych said. “This provided high-speed, low-latency data transmissions for real-time command and control, with fast and simple deployment and terminals ready in minutes.”
(Source: Ukrainian Armed Forces)
“However, the terminals become targets for FPV drones and artillery strikes. Therefore, from this experience, tactical terminals must be easy to deploy and mobile for quick repositioning. Cost must be minimized as the equipment is at high risk of destruction. Camouflage helped reduce detection and targeting,” he said.
Ukraine has made use of multiple GEO-orbit satellites, quickly transitioning to other providers after a Russian cyber attack dismantled the ground network for Ukraine’s use of the Viasat Ka-Sat Ka-band satellite, designed for consumer broadband use but, before the war, heavily used by Ukraine’s military.
(Source: Ukrainian Armed forces)
“Key advantages of GEO satcom are its independence from GPS, assuring connectivity even if the GNSS is jammed or down; the large service capacity over Ukraine; and its capability to operate across multiple frequency bands — C-, Ku-, Ka- and X-band to enhance communications and reduce interference,” Olehhovych said.
He said using directed beams to focus signals over a single area helped reduce signal interception by the enemy. GEO capacity also was used to support anti-jamming capacity and boost resistance to electronic warfare.
“By combining LEO and GEO satcom, we have enhanced combat effectiveness. Technology adaptation, multi-band and multi-orbit solutions will assure Ukrainian superiority in digital warfare.”
Originally published by Space Intel Report on April 28, 2025. Read the original article here.
