This is how much it costs to use Starlink on every US suicide drone.

This is how much it costs to use Starlink on every US suicide drone.

Elon Musk has entered into a new controversy due to information published by Reuters this Tuesday in which the confrontation between SpaceX and the Pentagon due to the increase in the price of connection to the satellite network starlink during the Iran war. With this, it has also been known what the broadband connection costs the US Army for each suicide drone: 25,000 dollars a month, about 21,500 euros.

This is the new price, always according to Reuters, which multiplies by five what SpaceX charged for the use of Starshield before the Iran war, which was $5,000 per month. Musk has assured that the information from Reuters ‘it’s false’without clarifying how much SpaceX charges for giving access to star shieldwhich is the SpaceX network that uses Starlink technology to provide satellite broadband to government entities.

Although Musk denies the information, he has revealed that there has been a dispute over how the Army used SpaceX satellite technology, since military drones would have initially used the commercial Starlink service instead of the specific network for governments.

‘They misused the civilian Starlink system for military purposes. Direct violation of terms of service‘Musk wrote. He also noted in another post on X that the drones had been incorrectly configured by a military contractor. ‘There is a US government arm of SpaceX called Starshield, which has a different set of satellites than Starlinkintended for civil use. The company that makes the suicide drones incorrectly used the civilian system, instead of Starshield,’ Musk wrote.

The Pentagon ‘denied any violation of its agreement with SpaceX,’ according to Reuters. Starshield terminals sold by SpaceX to the Army can connect to both the Starlink and Starshield commercial constellations.

According to the news agency, which bases its information on Pentagon documents and interviews with sources familiar with the price talks, the Pentagon initially opposed the increase proposed by SpaceX for each kamikaze drone, but he ended up accepting it.

Keep in mind that the $25,000 is a monthly fee to use Starshield terminals on drones that only make a one-way trip before hitting targets and detonating. The information refers in particular to low-cost drones LUKEmanufactured by the defense contractor Spektreworks and which are the American version of the Shahed produced by Iran and Russia, after reverse engineering. It is estimated that each LUCAS drone costs about $35,000approximately 30,000 euros, which represents a cost-effectiveness ratio much greater than that of any missile.

Musk had already addressed the military’s use of SpaceX satellite terminals on drones on March 1, a day after the Iran war began, in response to a post on X in which a user showed an image of one of the drones that appeared to have a satellite terminal integrated.

‘Using the terminal in weapons systems violates Starlink’s commercial terms of service. This applies to all users and is disabled when detected‘Musk wrote then. ‘There is a separate network called Starshield, operated by the US Government. It is not under SpaceX control‘.

Within weeks of the US beginning strikes in Iran, ‘SpaceX executives met with Pentagon officials and argued that the military was paying too little for the service,’ Reuters notes. For SpaceX, LUCAS drones operate in conditions closer to those of your air subscription than to those of a cheaper land or mobility service. For the Pentagon, the $25,000 fee is Designed for aircraft, not kamikaze drones who use a Starlink connection for a matter of minutes or hours.

Still, the Pentagon is considering an additional purchase of more than 3,500 subscriptions of Starshield terminals, including 100 with the most expensive airfare, according to Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters.