OVES Enterprise, a company that develops artificial intelligence for autonomous defence systems, has used this month’s restrictions on Starlink in Ukraine to argue that military equipment depending on outside communications networks is exposed. Its case was set out in comments published on 28 October by the Romanian business outlet Business Review, which reported that the company offers its Nemesis AI software as an answer.
Starlink is the low Earth orbit satellite internet system controlled by SpaceX, the space company of Elon Musk. The restrictions were reported on 14 October by AFP, carried by Yahoo News Singapore, and the curbs were later lifted.
Key facts
- AFP reported that several Ukrainian sources said the constellation cuts the signal between a satellite and an antenna if the antenna moves faster than around 160 kilometres (100 miles) per hour.
- Business Review said the curbs covered Starshield, SpaceX’s government and military line, as well as Starlink, and disrupted connectivity for certain drones above that speed.
- A senior Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously, told AFP that Starlink data communication speeds had been “throttled”.
- Sergiy Beskrestnov, technology adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on Telegram that SpaceX had introduced a speed limit for Starlink terminals in motion, which he said disrupted a number of missions.
- OVES Enterprise says Nemesis AI draws on about 62 satellites across the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou constellations and checks signal integrity about 200 times per second.
- The company says decisions needed for autonomous operation are taken on board within milliseconds, without continuously transmitting data to an external server.
Why it matters
The episode matters beyond the front line because of who makes the call. Starlink’s coverage, its service tiers and the conditions attached to them are set by a single private operator, and Ukraine’s experience is the clearest public demonstration so far that a parameter as basic as how fast a terminal may move can change, and then change back, without advance notice to the people relying on it. Availability, on that reading, is not only a question of whether satellites are overhead; it is a question of what the operator decides the service will do on a given day — the same calculation now driving governments reconsidering how much they lean on US-controlled satellite services.
“The Starlink incident shows how vulnerable military systems can become when they depend on infrastructure beyond their control,” OVES Enterprise chief executive Mihai Filip said, in remarks published by Business Review. He added that the availability of highly advanced technologies can be restricted by a decision taken thousands of kilometres from where they are deployed, and said the next stage in defence technology is moving data processing and decision-making onto the equipment itself.
What Ukraine reported losing
Drones have become a central weapon in the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, AFP reported. A source at Ukraine’s ministry of defence, who asked not to be named, told the agency the restrictions complicated drone missions, particularly those involving interceptors and medium-range strikes, and reduced capabilities for frontline logistics, reconnaissance and communication relays.
Beskrestnov said the limit deprived Ukraine of its ability to fight Russian jet-powered drones, and that Ukraine uses Starlink to help intercept drones, although AFP noted it has never been made clear exactly how that works. Michel of the IESD told AFP that Ukrainian reliance on Starlink is massive and that the majority of Ukrainian transmissions depend on it.
AFP reported the restrictions came amid renewed tension between Kyiv and Washington, with US President Donald Trump seeking to bring down global fuel prices by buying Russian diesel and pressing both sides to stop attacking energy infrastructure. Trump, an ally of Musk, has grown increasingly frustrated with Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities, prompting fears of retaliation such as halting intelligence sharing or slowing Starlink, the agency said. Zelensky said on the Wednesday of that week that his country had difficulties over Starlink and intelligence while confronting Russian attacks.
What OVES says Nemesis AI does
Nemesis AI combines four components, according to Business Review: GNSS-denied navigation, AI Autonomous Pilot, Situational Awareness and Super Sensor Fusion. The integrity checks are designed to spot jamming, the falsification of positioning data known as spoofing, and the retransmission of signals intended to cause navigation errors, known as meaconing.
When signals are judged compromised, the system excludes them from position calculations and keeps using the data it considers reliable, with the AI helping recalculate position and verify the trajectory, the outlet reported. OVES Enterprise says drones running the software can navigate, adjust their flight paths and continue missions without a continuous internet connection or operator intervention.
Where it is already deployed
Business Review reported that Nemesis AI is used in OVES Enterprise projects including drone interception systems and SAHARA, the company’s autonomous cruise missile system, and can be fitted to aerial drones, interceptors, missiles, unmanned naval vehicles and ground platforms.
The software is also integrated into EAGLS ground-based counter-drone systems built by MSI Defense Solutions, a US company, and deployed by the US Army in the Middle East, according to the outlet. A strategic partnership announced in September 2026 with STARK, a German defence technology manufacturer, aims to put Nemesis AI into unmanned naval platforms.
What the pitch leaves open
Every performance figure above comes from the company. Business Review’s account is built on OVES Enterprise statements and cites no independent testing of the 62-satellite tracking claim or the 200-checks-a-second figure, and no second outlet or technical third party has published a verification of either. The report also gives no measure of the company’s size — no founding date, funding, headcount or customer numbers — leaving the MSI Defense Solutions integration and the STARK partnership as the only external markers of its standing. Starlink-News found no public evaluation of Nemesis AI in Ukrainian service.
There is also a gap between the problem Ukraine described and the product being offered. What Kyiv’s sources said they lost was a data link, not navigation: a European industry source told AFP that Starlink was extremely effective for attacks on radar targets, surface-to-air systems and defended sites because it is controlled from space and bypasses the radio horizon, and that jamming its signals is very difficult and energy-hungry. Onboard autonomy can keep an airframe flying when positioning signals are attacked, but it does not restore a relay that carries video, targeting updates or control back to an operator — which is why the more direct answer to the episode is Kyiv’s own effort to field an alternative constellation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the restrictions affect Ukraine’s long-range strikes inside Russia?
No. Yohann Michel, a research fellow at the Lyon-based Institute for Strategic and Defence Studies, told AFP the restrictions should have no effect on longer-range strikes, particularly against refineries deep inside Russian territory where the Starlink constellation does not operate. He said the bigger impact would be on medium-range strikes on Crimea, Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea.
Did the restrictions affect ordinary Starlink customers?
Neither AFP nor Business Review reported any effect on residential or business subscribers. The reporting concerned terminals in motion in Ukraine and the military-linked Starshield service, not standard fixed installations, and no change to consumer plans or prices was reported in connection with the episode.
What does Nemesis AI do if satellite navigation signals disappear completely?
According to Business Review, in extreme situations where GNSS signals become completely unavailable, Nemesis AI falls back on data from inertial sensors and other onboard systems. OVES Enterprise says correlating that information supports position and movement estimation as well as autonomous piloting.
Has SpaceX explained what caused the Starlink restrictions in Ukraine?
No. AFP reported that SpaceX had yet to clarify what caused the restrictions reported by Kyiv, and that there was no confirmation they were linked to tensions between Washington and Kyiv. Michel of the IESD told AFP nothing could be ruled out, from American pressure over strikes on diesel supplies to a far more mundane explanation such as a software update.
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