China Claims Starlink Signals Can Reveal Stealth Aircraft – and What That Really Means
17th September 2024
According to a Chinese state-sanctioned study, signals from SpaceX Starlink broadband internet satellites could be used to track US stealth fighters, such as the F-22.
They can claim that all they want but the reality is: It’s not that useful militarily, and if it were, Beijing almost certainly wouldn’t let anyone blab about it.
The research details how the academics were able to recognize the rough location of a commercial drone by observing disturbances in electromagnetic signals from Starlink satellites caused by aircraft passing through them. The system could “provide significant advantages in detecting small and stealth targets,” the team claimed.
The academics, led by professor Yi Jianxin from Wuhan University’s School of Electronic Information, launched [paywall] a commercial DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone and sent it over the coast near the Chinese city of Guangdong. The researchers chose the drone as they estimated it has the same radar signature as a modern F-22 fighter.