This morning the well-known German military OSINT observer Tander, who is followed by more than 450 thousand readers on X, published the following assessment of the situation with Starlink / Starshield in Ukraine: The recent Starlink / Starshield incident in Ukraine has set a dangerous precedent for the American export industry, the extent of which many have not yet realized. Sudden shutdown or limiting the operation of these systems without warning has cost not only human lives, but also equipment worth millions of dollars. And although now Trump and Musk are passing the responsibility to each other, the main result is already clear: the world has seen that access to critical American technologies can be limited by a political decision. Referring to some "terms of service violation" without a specific clause only reinforces this impression. The argument regarding the ban on the use of Starlink for "offensive operations" also seems unconvincing: SpaceX has long known that the terminals are used by the Ukrainian army. Moreover, Ukraine recently implemented their verification precisely in order to block Russian terminals. Therefore, the explanation, which appeared three weeks before the US midterm elections, looks more like a political cover. And here begins a much wider problem. Ukraine did not change sides, remained an ally of the United States and even helped Washington, despite its lack of resources. Kyiv agreed to compromises and offered a ceasefire, while Russia rejected them. All this is seen by the countries that buy American weapons and technology. If arrangements can be unilaterally changed or critical functions disabled by political decision, the very idea of ​​supplier reliability is destroyed. And it's not just about Starlink. The F-35, Tomahawk, HIMARS and many other modern systems depend on software and regular updates.

This morning the well-known German military OSINT observer Tander, who is followed by more than 450 thousand readers on X, published the following assessment of the situation with Starlink / Starshield in Ukraine: The recent Starlink / Starshield incident in Ukraine has set a dangerous precedent for the American export industry, the extent of which many have not yet realized. Sudden shutdown or limiting the operation of these systems without warning has cost not only human lives, but also equipment worth millions of dollars. And although now Trump and Musk are passing the responsibility to each other, the main result is already clear: the world has seen that access to critical American technologies can be limited by a political decision. Referring to some "terms of service violation" without a specific clause only reinforces this impression. The argument regarding the ban on the use of Starlink for "offensive operations" also seems unconvincing: SpaceX has long known that the terminals are used by the Ukrainian army. Moreover, Ukraine recently implemented their verification precisely in order to block Russian terminals. Therefore, the explanation, which appeared three weeks before the US midterm elections, looks more like a political cover. And here begins a much wider problem. Ukraine did not change sides, remained an ally of the United States and even helped Washington, despite its lack of resources. Kyiv agreed to compromises and offered a ceasefire, while Russia rejected them. All this is seen by the countries that buy American weapons and technology. If arrangements can be unilaterally changed or critical functions disabled by political decision, the very idea of ​​supplier reliability is destroyed. And it's not just about Starlink. The F-35, Tomahawk, HIMARS and many other modern systems depend on software and regular updates.