When it comes to drone guidance over long ranges, Starlink enabled low-level approaches like that used on Strizh jet drones that attacked airbases that are harder to detect and fight (couple of Stizh drones actually hit trees and were lost due to flying so low to avoid radars), but commercial stuff enables 400+km deep guidance and telemetry, big problem is just that all these systems are line of sight , so further you fly higher you need to be to maintain LOS  , which is a big problem for naval drones that need a flying repeater drone to provide a link.

One alternative is using a LTE/4G/5G network, which enables intercontinental range but not on the sea where there is no network coverage.  Long story short enterprising individuals can for about 1000$ control drones from their couch anywhere on the planet where there is mobile networks, and if just using long-range radio link 500km is probably doable on sub 1000$ system , the problem is actually hitting anything of value as the radio link will break once plane drops below LOS (that might be hundreds of meters or even multiple kilometers from the target where the drone would need to continue the attack on autopilot.)  , that can be augmented with use of an NVIDIA Jetson AI module, those are not expensive but know how to create targeting and controlling AI to fit your needs is another problem.

Starlink is not crucial to use of drones.

Great info on drones, thank you 

It seems that the Ukrainian naval drones don't need Elon Musk's Starlink to attack Russki ships.

YouTube

Ukrainian drones attack Sevastopol port where Russian ships are stationed

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YouTube

Update from Ukraine | Drone boats attack on Ruzzian Ship in Sevastopol | Ruzzia sent more Crap Tanks

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In all the naval drone attacks so far none hit a ship, even though everyone was rolling with claimed hit on ship,  will see if this is any different if there is a ship hit will see on satellite pics soon enough, but the upper video is definitely edited to make it look like drone hit something vs drone blew up after being it, Original vids on telegram have incoming tracer fire before the explosion. 

No they don't need a Starlink , but they need to have an airborne transmitter node ,to cover distance to Crimea airborne node needs to be a couple of kilometers high up in the air to enable LOS radio control, that is why starlink was very convenient, but note Starlink is not the only satellite constellation that can be used there other less capable and then there is always military satellite coms options .

One Web for example is an alternative , Russians now have 36 or so of them satellites as they were meant to be launched from Baikonur days after the war started one wonders if they can be repurposed.

But considering the attack was combined air and sea , my money is on the airborne node with LOS radio command and not a satellite. 

The line of sight on the sea surface is extremely short due to earth curvature as is effective radio control distance.

Mines - something we don't see modern militaries focussing on much anymore - are apparently having a big effect.

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1638658220955713539

I've also read UA having great success with the US made RAAM 155mm artillery deployed mines. Sometimes firing them behind Russian tanks to surprise them when they retreat. 

gatnerd said:

I've also read UA having great success with the US made RAAM 155mm artillery deployed mines

They also have "great success" deploying PFM-1 Lepestok anti-personnel scatterable mines over towns and villages with civilian population

That's rich coming from a supporter of Russia, who regularly shells population centers with cluster shells and bombs as a matter of course in basically every conflict 

Gr1ff1th said:

That's rich coming from a supporter of Russia, who regularly shells population centers with cluster shells and bombs as a matter of course in basically every conflict

I am a Russian. And you are an American, right? So maybe we can compare the lists of "every conflict" where population centers were bombed by our own countries?

Iranian rockets used on Mi-17 supplied by US 

Chicken wire trench upgrades, to protect from bomblets dropped from drones. on the videos they test it by drone drop and bomblet just bonuces of