America’s New Military Empire Runs on Subscriptions

The United States is developing a new instrument of military domination: the power to disable another country’s battlefield without firing a single shot.

From Selling Weapons to Controlling Warfare

But Elon Musk’s Starlink and Starshield are introducing a potentially more intrusive form of dependency. Instead of merely supplying the weapons with which other countries fight, American companies are increasingly supplying the communications infrastructure through which those weapons operate. The distinction is fundamental. Traditional military dependency allows Washington to constrain a country’s military capabilities over time. Satellite-based dependency creates opportunities to influence military operations while they are underway.

A country may possess thousands of drones, sophisticated weapons and advanced surveillance systems. Yet if their effectiveness depends on satellite connections controlled by an American company or government, ownership does not necessarily translate into operational sovereignty.

Ukraine has just experienced the consequences. In October, Ukrainian military operations were disrupted when restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield service prevented terminals mounted on fast-moving drones from maintaining connections above approximately 160 kilometres per hour. According to Reuters, the restrictions interfered with drone missions, targets and the interception of incoming attacks.

More revealing was the controversy surrounding responsibility for the decision. Reuters reported, citing American and Western officials, that the order originated inside the White House. The Trump administration disputed that account. Musk maintained that Starshield restrictions were controlled by the American military, while Washington publicly pointed towards SpaceX.

On October 24, Ukraine announced that normal operations had resumed. Musk subsequently accused Ukrainian forces of violating Starlink’s terms by employing the service for offensive drone strikes, an........

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