American billionaire Elon Musk announced on October 15 that the United States “SpaceX (SpaceX) will continue to provide funding for Ukraine’s ‘Starlink’ Internet service”, temporarily ending the recent “Starlink” involvement in Russia and Ukraine. The turmoil caused by the conflict. However, in the respective statements of SpaceX, Ukraine and the Pentagon, it is rare to reveal to the outside world how much this new concept of Internet satellite constellation has affected the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
The Starlink system terminal made by SpaceX has been an important means of communication for the Ukrainian military since it first arrived in Ukraine for use this spring. According to CNN, about 20,000 Starlink terminals have been donated to Ukraine so far. According to Musk, there are currently 25,000 “Starlink” terminals running in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Fedorov said that “most of them are used for civilian purposes, including reconnecting hospitals, Internet service providers and some technology companies with foreign customers.” But other sources see the “Starlink” terminal as Ukrainian A powerful tool for the military. The U.S. “Defense News” said on the 16th that “Starlink” played an important role in the Ukrainian military’s combat operations. For example, it can assist frontline reconnaissance drone operators to target key Russian equipment. The British “London Times” said that “Starlink” helped the Ukrainian army use drones to target and destroy Russian tanks. The US “Washington Post” described that “Starlink” has changed the war, “‘Starlink’ is working under Katyusha’s artillery fire.”
Of course, the “Star Chain” terminal owned by the Ukrainian army has also been continuously lost. According to CNN, documents sent by SpaceX to the Pentagon show that Ukrainian commander Valery Zarozhny made a previously unreported direct request to Musk in July for nearly 8,000 more “Starlinks” terminal. Zarouzhny praised the “special utility” of Starlink, but acknowledged that “about 500 terminals are destroyed in combat every month” and asked Musk to add 6,200 terminals to Ukraine’s military and intelligence services. In addition, Western media also generally reported that starting from the end of September, the “Starlink” terminals of the Ukrainian front-line troops have failed on a large scale. Some analysts believe that it may be caused by Russian electronic interference.
SpaceX’s “Starlink” system consists of more than 2,200 low-orbit satellites. Musk publicly declared on social media not long ago, “The ‘Starlink’ system operating in Ukraine has cost SpaceX $80 million and will exceed $100 million by the end of this year. Unless the Pentagon provides follow-up funding, the company may Stop serving Ukraine.”
Lieutenant General Brad Cooper, commander of the Navy of the U.S. Central Command, said that NATO’s exercises in Europe proved that the “Starlink” communication effect is very good, and the data transmission speed is much faster than the previous system, And it costs less.
According to the US Naval Institute News Network (USNI), in mid-September, the domestic water of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier was suspected to be contaminated with aviation fuel, causing some sailors to “have rashes and other disturbing symptoms.” The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which was supposed to go to sea for training, had to stay on the dock after the sailors and their families released photographic evidence. Also in mid-September, the USS Lincoln was exposed to the safety of drinking water.
The issue of drinking water safety has long plagued the U.S. Navy. The US “Business Insider” website interviewed more than a dozen sailors and marines who served on aircraft carriers and amphibious ships, many of whom did not want to be named. Nearly all respondents said they drank and used contaminated water during their service. Some recalled “shower water that smelled of kerosene” and tried spice to flush out the odor in the water. Some people complained that the military has not been able to properly solve the problem, always “minimizing big issues” and telling soldiers to be calm.
”I believe this has been going on for a long time. This (recent accident) is not the first and probably won’t be the last.” Said the veteran who served on the USS aircraft carrier. “When you go to take a shower, the water smells like jet fuel,” said a veteran of the USS Ranger in the 1980s. It’s horrible! inches of water, the whole house “smells like a gas tank”.
Almost no water on board is clean, not even cooking water. According to the military during the Nimitz incident, the substance that disturbed the sailors may have been JP-5 – a kerosene-based aviation fuel, mainly for the ship’s jets and helicopters Serve. The US Department of Health pointed out in 2017 that JP-5 is a toxic and flammable substance that can enter the human body through the skin, digestive tract or lungs and spread throughout the body.
According to the veterans interviewed, the problem of drinking water pollution on U.S. ships seems unsolved. Cleaning up the ship’s water supply system is a daunting task, and the ship’s logistics staff have done their best, but many times the soldiers can’t help but complain, “I shouldn’t be on duty drinking water that tastes like jet fuel for two weeks in a row.”
