Elon Musk’s Starlink global satellite system has become an important part of the effective work of the Ukrainian artillery.

In an interview with the Polish Defence24, a Polish volunteer for Ukraine told how Starlink helps Ukraine at the front.

In the spring, he worked in Ukraine as a medic, but then transferred to the crew of the 152-mm D-20 towed howitzer in the artillery.

In the artillery unit, he said, he was the only foreigner.

The volunteer fought in Donbas during the offensive of Russian forces on Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

His D-20 howitzer got its own group of drone operators and its own Starlink terminal.

Drone operators were usually stationed several kilometers ahead of the weapons.

The maximum firing range of the D-20 is about 17 km, so the howitzer was often placed several kilometers from the line of battle.

It depended on the concept of the task and how distant the target was.

The fire was fought exclusively with the support of a drone and using Starlink communication. Each shot was adjusted, including the installations on the blaster.

“Thanks to the communication through the Starlink terminals, it was enough just to shoot regularly and adjust the fire. The voice communication was 24/7, so we regularly received corrections or, for example, information that the ammunition did not explode and other detonators need to be screwed in,” the Polish volunteer says.

In the morning, a tractor with a howitzer and ammunition in the body, designed for about 20 shots, moved to the waiting area, where it waited to receive target indication from the drone operators, after which it quickly moved to the required position.

The choice of position and ways of leaving it were planned in advance. Only a few shells were fired from each position, after which the howitzer quickly collapsed.

It was not often necessary to fire 20 shells from one position, the military tried to avoid such tactics, and often took empty boxes from shells with them.

Starlink at war

Elon Musk’s Starlink is a network of more than 2,000 satellites orbiting the Earth and communicating with thousands of ground terminals.

Satellite communication became available throughout Ukraine at the end of February, after the failure of Internet services due to the Russian invasion.

Starlink’s presence in Ukraine proved invaluable not only at the front, but also in the restoration of energy and communications infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes.

In late February, when Russia’s invasion disrupted Ukraine’s Internet services, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov approached Elon Musk to ask the American billionaire to activate Starlink, SpaceX’s giant broadband network.

Musk promptly replied: “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.”

After that, the Ukrainian military began to connect its drones through the Starlink satellite, which allowed Ukrainian artillery to work more precisely on the positions of the Russians. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has received about 20,000 Starlink devices.