Disabling mobile internet during “shaheed” attacks: will it work?

Against the backdrop of increased attacks by enemy drones in Ukraine, the question of the advisability of disabling mobile Internet during air alerts has arisen. This may work, but only partially, because the technical capabilities of Russian drones allow them to switch to other guidance systems.

This opinion was expressed on the air of “Pryamoy” by Ivan Stupak, a military analyst, SBU employee (2004-2015).

“I’m not a technical expert here, I rely on the opinion of people I trust, and they say that this story works. Of course, it won’t look something like this: Sumy region, drones are detected – and the entire Sumy region and surrounding regions, switches, everything, there is no mobile Internet. Experts say that there is an opportunity to turn off the mobile Internet in sectors and thus prevent the advancement of Russian drones in our airspace,” Stupak noted.

However, according to him, the technical capabilities of Russian drones allow them to switch to other guidance systems in the event of a mobile phone outage.

“But we must understand that in addition to the fact that this idea works, it can be done, there are technical solutions, there is a possibility of sending them into the field, over some pond, let them fly there, and then shoot them down. But there is also such a story that these drones have approximately five guidance systems. That is, there is GLONASS and other Russian systems that allow them to switch to another system and continue moving in the event of loss of communication. That is, this is a challenge for our specialists, yes, unfortunately, we are lagging behind here, but we have the capabilities, our specialists are catching up,” the military analyst explains.

As a reminder, the head of the subcommittee on cyber security, Oleksandr Fedienko, reported that in the face of the growing threat from Russian kamikaze drones, the Verkhovna Rada is considering the idea of temporarily turning off mobile Internet in certain regions and mandatory identification of mobile subscribers.

At the same time, not all experts agree on the necessity of such steps. Electronic warfare specialist Sergei Beskrestnov noted that mobile communication itself is not used to directly control the “shaheeds.” However, he acknowledged that mobile Internet can help drones transmit data, navigate in space, and coordinate actions.

Opponents of the idea of restrictions believe that turning off mobile communications will make life difficult for ordinary citizens, but will not be a decisive factor in the fight against drones. Some military experts also argue that the mobile network is an auxiliary, but not critical tool for adjusting the actions of drones.

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