$25,000 for a few minutes: New Starlink tariff for US kamikaze drones

US military kamikaze drones fly for a few minutes or at most hours before crashing into their target on the ground with a deadly explosion. The US military has so far paid $5,000 per drone for the Starlink connection required to control it. During the attack on Iran, Starlink operator SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) was able to leverage its market power and increase the price fivefold to almost $25,000.

This is reported by Reuters, citing documents from the US Department of Defense and two unnamed people in the know. The price of just under $25,000 is the monthly rate for Starlink terminals on aircraft. SpaceX is now also implementing it for kamikaze drones, which are only in use for a short time before they explode, including the Starlink terminal. The company’s position is that the military misused the $5,000 monthly rate for land or water drones for their short-lived flying drones. In the absence of an alternative, the USA has to pay the higher price. Last but not least, this helps SpaceX with its planned IPO.

Iranian drones of the US military

It’s about the low-cost Uncrewed (Unmanned) Combat Attack System FLM-136 (LUCAS). The fixed-wing drone was developed by Spektreworks for the US military and was first used against Iran earlier this year. Ironically, LUCAS is a slightly scaled down variant of the HESA Shahed 136 model developed by Iran. Spektreworks reverse engineered Shahed.

According to Reuters, low cost means $30,000 each, probably including the original payment of $5,000 for the Starlink connection. Since the forced tariff change, the US military has had to budget around $50,000 per unit.

Musk refers to Starshield

Elon Musk became aware of the matter on March 1st, one day after the start of the US and Israeli attack on Iran. The SpaceX boss responded to an online posting that showed a LUCAS flight drone with a built-in Starlink terminal: “It is a violation of the Starlink terms and conditions to use the terminal for weapon systems. This affects all users and will be deactivated if detected.”

In fact, the Starlinks Terms and Conditions (General Terms and Conditions) cannot be found in this way. They simply point out that Starlink is not designed for use with weapons. If Starlink terminals are modified, SpaceX reserves the right to refuse technical support and terminate the contract “at its sole discretion”. Since LUCAS drones are only used for a very short time, any termination of the contract will not affect Krieger.

At that time, Musk also referred to the Starshield offering developed for the US military. Its satellites offer additional functions, especially for continuous, continuous monitoring of our entire planet. The radio connections are likely to be better encrypted but easier to disrupt because the signal is broader. That’s why militaries regularly rely on conventional Starlink in combat operations.

Enormous demands for money for cell phone service

With the attack on Iran by the USA and Israel on February 28th, the Iranian regime shut down the internet in the country. Starlink terminals were smuggled into the country; However, their use is prohibited and life-threatening. The Iranian regime is reportedly operating jammers against Starlink connections in cities. Internet access in Iran was only reactivated on Monday, but with increased censorship. For example, WhatsApp is blocked.

Total digital censorship not only cut off Iranians from independent news, it also prevented them from communicating information about conditions in the country. Such information would be valuable to attacking militaries.

The US government, but also representatives of civil society, wanted SpaceX to open its Starlink satellites to direct radio connections to cell phones in Iran. SpaceX was willing to do so, according to Reuters, but demanded half a billion dollars to get the new feature operational and then $100 million a month. This monopoly return even frightened the Pentagon.

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