Starlink Becomes Strategic Target in Russia-Iran Security Doctrine

Russia and Iran have aligned their approaches to countering Elon Musk's satellite communications network, shifting their efforts toward a combination of electronic warfare and potential physical threats against key elements of the system.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by NASA, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

ISS-62 Earth's glow and Aurora australis with Starlink satellite constellation

Iran Designates Starlink Infrastructure as Military Targets

Iran's state-run news agency Fars, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), confirmed that assets linked to Elon Musk have been added to the country's official list of military targets. Tehran classifies Starlink satellite communications infrastructure as legitimate military objectives, arguing that the system has been used by the armed forces of the United States and Israel during operations against the Islamic Republic.

According to Iranian officials, U.S. and Israeli military forces have integrated both the Starlink satellite network and the military-oriented Starshield system into the control of strike drones and reconnaissance vessels operating in the region. Tehran maintains that these commercial space technologies directly support military operations against Iranian facilities and therefore no longer qualify solely as civilian infrastructure under its interpretation of international law.

Ground-based Starlink gateway stations located in Israel, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman have been identified as potential targets because they connect the satellite constellation to the global internet.

Russia Expands Electronic Warfare Against Satellite Communications

Russia has also intensified efforts to counter Starlink. Senator Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of Roscosmos, stated on his Telegram channel that Starlink has become one of the key factors behind Ukraine's ability to coordinate drone operations on the battlefield. He argued that secure communications and global UAV command networks now play a greater role in modern warfare than thousands of tanks or combat aircraft.

Rogozin said Moscow is aware of several methods capable of denying an adversary access to satellite communications, adding that their implementation depends on political decisions.

His remarks followed reports by several European media outlets on military and technological cooperation between Russia and China. According to NATO intelligence assessments cited in those reports, Moscow and Beijing have discussed a range of countermeasures against Starlink, including cyberattacks, advanced electronic warfare systems, laser technologies, and microwave weapons designed to disable satellite solar panels. U.S. media have also previously reported on Russia's alleged development of a space-based nuclear anti-satellite capability.

Electronic Warfare Remains the Primary Tool

For now, Russia appears unlikely to pursue the physical destruction of large numbers of Starlink satellites, a move that could significantly increase tensions with the United States. Instead, Moscow and Tehran continue to focus primarily on electronic warfare capabilities.

Western analysts have reported that Russia supplied Iran with experimental electronic warfare systems known as "Kalinka" in early 2026, designed specifically to interfere with Starlink terminals. Since late 2024, Russian forces have also deployed specialized systems such as "Volna Kupol Garant," which generate highly focused interference against communications frequencies used by individual satellites.

These systems are designed to create localized communication blackout zones covering areas of up to 20 square kilometers, disrupting the ability of drone operators to coordinate medium-range unmanned aircraft.

According to monitoring groups operating in Iran, the use of similar electronic jamming systems reduced the performance of illegally imported Starlink terminals in Tehran by 70 to 80 percent while increasing packet loss to as much as 40 percent, significantly degrading video transmission and operational coordination.

Ground Infrastructure and the Limits of Electronic Warfare

Another potential method involves targeting Starlink gateway stations that relay satellite traffic to the global internet. Disabling gateway facilities in countries such as Qatar or the United Arab Emirates could temporarily interrupt regional connectivity for terminals operating over the Persian Gulf.

However, modern SpaceX satellites, including the V2 Mini and V3 generations, use inter-satellite laser links that allow traffic to bypass damaged ground infrastructure by routing data through neighboring spacecraft. As a result, disabling individual gateway stations would not completely disrupt the network.

The same principle applies to gateway stations supporting Starlink services for Ukraine from neighboring NATO countries, including Poland, Lithuania, and Turkey.

Global Disruption Would Require Operations in Space

Electronic warfare systems can prove highly effective on a localized scale, whether along the front line or within a specific metropolitan area, by denying communications during critical military operations. Nevertheless, ground-based measures alone cannot permanently disable Starlink's global network.

With approximately 9,600 satellites in orbit and SpaceX capable of rapidly launching replacement spacecraft, isolated attacks are unlikely to produce lasting strategic effects. Any attempt to fundamentally neutralize the system during a large-scale conflict would ultimately require military operations extending into space.