星链及其军用版星盾已成为乌克兰武装部队不可或缺的一部分。本周，随着一次突发故障导致乌克兰防空系统陷入半瘫痪状态，这一点变得尤为明显。正如一名乌克兰军官向《政治》杂志所说：“这相当于对我们发动一次核打击。所有行动都被迫暂停。”乌克兰使用星盾通过安全互联网控制无人机，这些无人机包括拦截无人机以及乌克兰境内的其他短程和中程无人机。
Starlink and its military-grade counterpart, Starshield, have become indispensable to Ukraine’s armed forces. That much became clear this week, when a sudden outage plunged Ukraine’s air defenses into semidarkness. As one Ukrainian officer told Politico, “This is comparable to a nuclear strike against us. All operations are on hold.”Ukraine uses Starshield to control drones via secure internet. These include interceptor drones as well as other short- and medium-range drones inside Ukraine.
本周，星盾连接在乌克兰无人机和车辆开始以每小时超过100英里（在某些情况下甚至远低于此阈值）的速度移动时突然中断，使得拦截来袭的俄军火力几乎变得不可能。
This week, Starshield connectivity abruptly cut out as soon as Ukrainian drones and vehicles began to move faster than 100 miles an hour (and, in some cases, well short of that threshold), making the interception of incoming Russian fire virtually impossible.
截至周四早上，星盾服务据报道已恢复。但此次故障暴露出一个尚未消失的漏洞。自战争爆发以来，俄罗斯每个冬季都利用无人机和导弹袭击乌克兰能源基础设施，并明确表示其意图开始针对水基础设施进行攻击。乌克兰对抗俄军无人机的主要手段是一支由地面操作员通过星盾远程控制的小型、廉价、快速无人机舰队。失去这些高速数据链路的访问权限后，乌克兰将丧失大部分防御能力。
As of Thursday morning, Starshield service was reportedly restored. But the outage revealed a vulnerability that hasn’t gone away. Russia has been hitting Ukrainian energy infrastructure with drones and missiles every winter since the war began and has made clear that it intends to begin targeting water infrastructure as well. Ukraine’s primary counter to Russian drones has been a fleet of small, cheap, fast drones controlled remotely by operators on the ground using Starshield. Without access to these high-speed data links, Ukraine loses most of its defensive capability.
没有星盾，乌克兰还将失去其“中程打击”能力。军方部署无人机打击前线后方最近20英里、最远125英里内的移动目标，旨在扰乱俄军后勤，特别是通过摧毁油罐车。乌克兰每月已击毁超过700辆补给卡车，导致俄军在燃油和其他必需品方面供应紧张。
Without Starshield, Ukraine also loses its “middle strike” capability. The military deploys drones to hit moving targets as near as 20 and as far as 125 miles behind the front lines, with the goal of disrupting Russian logistics, particularly by destroying fuel trucks. Ukraine has been blowing up more than 700 supply trucks a month, leaving Russian troops short on fuel and other necessities.
在一定程度上，数据限速也可能影响乌克兰的前线战术，这些战术涉及在前线附近使用无人机对抗步兵和小型车辆。本周，一些报道称，数据在车辆以每小时45英里的速度移动时中断，这可能包括追踪载有俄罗斯军队的摩托车、卡车和全地形车的短程无人机。
To a lesser extent, the throttling of data could also affect Ukraine’s front-line tactics, which involve the use of drones against infantry and small vehicles near the front. This week, some reports suggested that data cut out for vehicles moving as slowly as 45 miles an hour, which could include short-range drones chasing down motorcycles, trucks, and all-terrain vehicles carrying Russian troops.
星链（Starlink）及其民用版本星盾（Starshield）对交战双方军队的重要性已经得到证明。2月，SpaceX关闭了俄罗斯在乌克兰对星链的盗版访问，其影响立即显现：远程前哨与野战部队之间的通信崩溃，迫使俄罗斯军队在无线电和其他不可靠的有线替代方案的协调下陷入混乱撤退。数千个这些盗版的俄罗斯星链终端仍在尝试连接网络，在此过程中暴露了它们的位置，为乌克兰提供了可操作的情报。这些情报被用于炮兵打击和心理干扰。
The importance to the warring armies of Starlink, Starshield’s civilian cousin, has already been demonstrated. In February, SpaceX shut down Russia’s pirated access to Starlink in Ukraine, and the effects were immediate: Communication between distant outposts and field units collapsed, forcing Russian troops into a chaotic retreat coordinated by radio and other unreliable wired alternatives. Thousands of these pirated Russian Starlink terminals continued to try to connect to the network, and in doing so gave away their position to the Ukrainians. This became actionable intelligence for artillery strikes and psychological disruption.
这种混乱恰逢俄罗斯战局转变之时，其在乌克兰的进展陷入停滞甚至被逆转。此后，前线实际上已经冻结，双方均未 decisive 地获得或失去领土。俄罗斯正在努力开发自己的星链版本，但距离实际实施仍有数年。
The chaos coincided with a change in fortunes for Russia, as its gains in Ukraine ground to a halt and were even reversed. Since then, the front lines have been practically frozen, with neither side decisively gaining or losing ground. Russia is scrambling to develop its own version of Starlink but is years away from implementing it.
本周的中断在时间、突发性和严重程度上引发了质疑——最明显的问题是，谁应对此负责以及为什么。SpaceX 在过去曾调整过 Starlink 的最高运行速度，去年底将其从每小时 550 英里降至 450 英里，随后在今年 3 月将标准套餐的速度上限设为严格的每小时 100 英里。然而，星盾卫星及政府服务由美国政府所有并受其控制。
The timing, abruptness, and severity of this week’s disruption invite questions—most obvious, about who was responsible and why. SpaceX has adjusted Starlink’s maximum operating speed in the past, bringing it down from 550 miles an hour to 450 at the end of last year, and then capping standard plans to a strict 100 miles an hour in March. Starshield satellites and government services, however, are owned and controlled by the American government.
一些新闻媒体报道称，本周突如其来的速度限制来自 SpaceX，但埃隆·马斯克在 X 上表示，最终决定权在于特朗普总统。路透社昨晚的一份报道证实，该命令源自白宫内部。
Some news outlets have reported that this week’s sudden speed cap came from SpaceX, but Elon Musk indicated on X that the ultimate decision lay with President Trump. A Reuters report last night confirmed that the order originated inside the White House.
此次限制恰逢美乌关系降至冰点之时。特朗普公开指责乌克兰及其总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基导致美国柴油价格上涨。他指出乌克兰对俄罗斯炼油设施的袭击，尽管价格上涨更可能与美国在中东的战争有关，他还要求乌克兰举行新选举以取代泽连斯基。他还声称已谈判达成一项“能源停火”：乌克兰将停止袭击俄罗斯石油设施，以换取俄罗斯停止袭击乌克兰能源基础设施。
The limitation came at a time when U.S.-Ukrainian relations are at a nadir. Trump has publicly blamed Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, for high diesel prices in the United States. He points to Ukrainian strikes on Russian refining facilities, despite the far greater likelihood that the price hikes are tied to America’s war in the Middle East, and he has demanded that Ukraine hold new elections to replace Zelensky. He also claimed to have negotiated an “energy ceasefire,” in which Ukraine would stop attacking Russian petroleum facilities in exchange for Russia ceasing to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
俄罗斯实际上拒绝了这一提议，并继续袭击乌克兰的电力设施。就在同一时期，特朗普宣布与俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京达成一项惊喜协议，将向美国及全球市场供应超过 400 万吨俄罗斯柴油。
Russia effectively rejected this offer and continued to hit Ukrainian electrical facilities. Over roughly the same period, Trump announced a surprise deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply more than 4 million metric tons of Russian diesel to U.S. and global markets.
星盾的这一决定很可能旨在施压乌克兰，使其遵从美国要求，停止袭击俄罗斯石油设施，以便总统在中期选举前能被视为成功降低燃油价格。但既然如此，政府为何又要求重新启动星盾服务？
The Starshield decision was likely meant to pressure Ukraine into complying with U.S. demands to stop hitting Russian oil facilities, so that the president could be seen as bringing fuel prices down before the midterm elections. But why, then, would the administration call for Starshield to be switched back on?
特朗普可能想避免在国会就此决定发生对峙。也可能这个想法只是为了吓唬乌克兰人，而并非真的想摧毁他们。或者同样可能的是，埃隆·马斯克在2026年向共和党竞选活动投入了3.66亿美元，他可能已经让白宫知道，他对可能导致星盾客户寻求其产品替代方案的行动感到不满。
Maybe Trump sought to avoid a showdown over the decision in Congress. Maybe the idea was just to scare the Ukrainians and not to actually destroy them. Or just as likely, Elon Musk, who has spent $366 million on Republican campaigns in 2026, could have let the White House know he was unhappy with actions that might lead Starshield clients to seek alternatives to his products.
当然，其他国防工业领袖和美国盟友也一定感到震惊。干扰乌克兰的防御能力不仅会给基辅带来问题：波兰和德国正在供应并为乌克兰的星链和星盾终端付费，而这些终端与波兰的防御直接相关。俄罗斯无人机反复越过波兰边境，其中许多首先穿越了乌克兰领空。此事传递出一个许多美国盟友早已担忧的信号：美国制造的军事技术可能会成为依赖它的国家的负担。
Surely other defense-industry leaders and U.S. allies were also alarmed. Messing with Ukraine’s defensive capabilities doesn’t cause problems for just Kyiv: Poland and Germany supply and pay for Ukraine’s Starlink and Starshield terminals, and these are directly pertinent to Poland’s defense. Russian drones have repeatedly breached the Polish border, many of them passing first through Ukrainian airspace. The episode signaled something that many American allies already feared: that U.S.-made military technology could become a liability to those who depend on it.
据报道，星盾目前已恢复在线，乌克兰的行动也暂时恢复了。但此事让所有美国盟友警觉：发展自主技术，哪怕成本高昂，可能比依赖SpaceX和美国更可取。
Starshield is reportedly back online, and so are Ukraine’s operations, for now. But the incident puts all American allies on notice: Developing homegrown technology, however expensive, may be better than relying on SpaceX and the United States.