- Chinese Study Shows Starlink Could Be Blocked in Taiwan
- Between 1,000 and 2,000 drones equipped with jamming equipment could create an “electromagnetic shield” for this purpose.
- However, maintaining the successful operation of such drones will be far from easy.
Chinese scientists have demonstrated how it is theoretically possible to use a large swarm of drones to block satellite internet from Taiwan, simulating “large-scale electronic warfare”.
Tom's Hardware Reports what the study highlights (paywalled) South China Morning Post (SCMP) have determined that it would take about 1,000 or perhaps up to 2,000 specially adapted jammer drones to plunge all of Taiwan into internet darkness.
The research was conducted by Zhejiang University and the Beijing Institute of Technology, and as SCMP explains: “Hundreds or thousands of small synchronized jammers – on drones, balloons or aircraft – will need to be deployed across the sky to form an electromagnetic shield over the battlefield.”
Starlink has become the center of attention in China since Musk's Starlink satellites deployed to help Ukraine after the Russian attack in 2022, to restore communications on the battlefield.
Abandoning Starlink so completely will not be an easy task, as you can imagine. Musk's satellites are equipped with smart technology, and compared to regular satellites, their collective “mesh network” makes them much harder to block.
SCMP reports that Chinese scientists used real Starlink data to create a simulation of the positioning of Musk's satellites over a 12-hour time period. They then developed a network of jamming drones using a mixture of electronic jammers generating a wide and narrow beam, flying at an altitude of 12 miles (20 km) to successfully block the signal coming to the ground in all areas.
The conclusion was that 935 coordinated drones would create the necessary “electromagnetic shield” to completely block Starlink from Taiwan. However, less powerful (cheaper) drones could be used instead—about 2,000 drones could be deployed, according to the report.
Analysis: An expensive attempt to implement
Obviously, mobilizing 1,000 or even 2,000 drones equipped with specialized jamming equipment will be a headache – because it's not just about the initial deployment as part of the shield, but also about keeping those drones in place. This includes replacing them as needed, as they will need to be refueled as part of an ongoing Internet blocking campaign that will continue for some time.
It won't be cheap and the logistics won't be easy to manage, but China clearly has what it takes to achieve this feat, pointing to a possible new way to use technology warfare. The study does rely on some assumptions, including ideal conditions for drones to operate, while actual deployments may be less than ideal.
And of course, the target island creature could take action against these drones. Taiwan has anti-drone equipment, but the jamming drones will be 12 miles in the sky, so taking down many of them will be a challenge. Deploying such a swarm of drones could be costly, but breaking that blockade would also be costly.
In any case, it's no consolation that China is flexing its tech warfare muscles in this way, and coupled with China's ability to cut internet cables, as Tom's Hardware points out, the furrowed brows of those potentially under threat may multiply.
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