Chinese military researchers are investigating how to effectively disrupt Starlink satellite communications in Taiwan during a potential conflict, requiring at least 1,000 to 2,000 drone-mounted jamming devices to suppress the system, according to a report by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.
The urgency stems from Ukraine’s battlefield success with Starlink following Russia’s February 2022 invasion. After Elon Musk’s SpaceX provided thousands of Starlink terminals to Kyiv within days, Russian forces initially managed to jam the signals. However, SpaceX quietly updated its software and satellite configurations, rendering Russian jamming ineffective and shifting battlefield advantage to Ukraine. This success shocked military establishments worldwide, particularly China’s.
Chinese military authorities subsequently began assessing how to conduct effective electronic warfare if Taiwan obtained Starlink access during a conflict. Research teams from Zhejiang University and Beijing Institute of Technology, which maintains close ties with China’s military, published the most comprehensive public analysis to date in early November in the journal Systems Engineering and Electronics.
The study concluded that traditional ground-based jamming methods are insufficient against Starlink’s large low-orbit satellite constellation and advanced communication technologies, including frequency hopping and adaptive systems. Computer simulations indicate China would need a “distributed jamming” strategy deploying hundreds or thousands of small, synchronized airborne jammers carried by drones, balloons, or aircraft to create an electromagnetic barrier.
Under optimal conditions, each jamming device could suppress Starlink connectivity across approximately 38.5 square kilometers. Given Taiwan’s roughly 36,000 square kilometers, fully suppressing coverage would require at least 935 synchronized devices on drones or balloons. Lower-powered equipment would necessitate approximately 2,000 units.
Researchers acknowledged these figures don’t account for terrain interference, equipment attrition, or Starlink’s continuously improving anti-jamming capabilities, meaning actual requirements could be considerably higher. They emphasized that since many of Starlink’s core technologies remain classified, their simulation data represents only preliminary assessments.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), November 23, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202511230163.aspx