Pentagon IG refuses to investigate Starlink/Starshield slowdown in Ukraine
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The Pentagon inspector general’s office declined a request from US senators to investigate restrictions recently imposed on the Ukraine military’s use of SpaceX’s satellite network. Ukraine, which uses SpaceX’s Starlink service and the military version known as Starshield, said earlier this month that military drones lost satellite connectivity when traveling above 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour). The limit was removed after about 10 days.
五角大楼监察长办公室拒绝了美国参议员提出的调查请求，该请求旨在调查近期对乌克兰军队使用 SpaceX 卫星网络所施加的限制。乌克兰目前使用 SpaceX 的“星链”（Starlink）服务及其军用版本“星盾”（Starshield）。乌克兰本月早些时候表示，当军用无人机飞行速度超过每小时 161 公里（100 英里）时，会失去卫星连接。该限制在大约 10 天后被取消。
Five Democratic and four Republican senators sent an October 15 letter to Department of Defense Inspector General Platte Moring, asking for a probe into the reported disruptions of Starlink and Starshield. The letter asked, among other things, “whether any restrictions on Starlink or Starshield services were directed, authorized, or implemented by SpaceX, the Department of Defense, or other US government entities; whether such restrictions were consistent with applicable US government contracts, and what actions, if any, the Department of Defense took in response.”
五名民主党参议员和四名共和党参议员于 10 月 15 日致信国防部监察长普拉特·莫林（Platte Moring），要求对有关“星链”和“星盾”服务中断的报道进行调查。信中提出的问题包括：“对‘星链’或‘星盾’服务的任何限制是否由 SpaceX、国防部或其他美国政府实体指示、授权或实施；此类限制是否符合适用的美国政府合同；以及国防部对此采取了哪些行动（如有）。”
Platte told the senators in a letter Tuesday that the questions should be directed to the US Air Force and Space Force, according to CNN. “They are better suited to address the matters raised in your letter and to coordinate any Department responses to your questions,” Moring wrote.
据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）报道，莫林周二在给参议员的一封信中表示，这些问题应转交给美国空军和太空军。莫林写道：“他们更适合处理你们信中提出的事项，并协调国防部对你们问题的任何回应。”
A spokesperson for the Pentagon inspector general’s office told Ars today, “The Department of War Office of Inspector General (The DoW OIG) answered recent correspondence from members of Congress regarding Starlink… We carefully considered the congressional request and determined that the matters raised were best addressed by the DOW. Should new information come to light, we may reconsider.” We asked the Department of Defense whether it plans to investigate and will update this article if it responds.
五角大楼监察长办公室的一位发言人今天告诉《Ars》：“国防部监察长办公室（DoW OIG）已回复了国会议员近期关于‘星链’的来信……我们仔细考虑了国会的请求，并确定所提出的事项最好由国防部处理。如果出现新信息，我们可能会重新考虑。”我们已询问国防部是否计划进行调查，如果收到回复，我们将更新本文。
Democrats and Republicans want answers. The satellite problems “were discovered after the administration threatened to withhold intelligence to Kyiv over its strikes on Russian refineries and after President Donald Trump made a deal to buy Russian diesel and ease sanctions on Moscow,” CNN wrote.
民主党人和共和党人都想要答案。CNN 写道，这些卫星问题“是在政府威胁要扣留基辅对俄罗斯炼油厂发动袭击的情报，以及唐纳德·特朗普总统达成购买俄罗斯柴油并放宽对莫斯科制裁的协议后被发现的”。
The letter asking for an inspector general investigation was sent by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the top democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Thom Tillis (R-N.C.); Dick Durbin (D-Ill.); Susan Collins (R-Maine); Jack Reed (D-R.I.); John Cornyn (R-Texas); Chris Coons (D-Del.); Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
要求监察长进行调查的信件由以下参议员联名签署：参议院外交关系委员会最高民主党人珍妮·沙欣（Jeanne Shaheen，民主党，新罕布什尔州）；汤姆·蒂利斯（Thom Tillis，共和党，北卡罗来纳州）；迪克·德宾（Dick Durbin，民主党，伊利诺伊州）；苏珊·柯林斯（Susan Collins，共和党，缅因州）；杰克·里德（Jack Reed，民主党，罗德岛州）；约翰·科宁（John Cornyn，共和党，德克萨斯州）；克里斯·库恩斯（Chris Coons，民主党，特拉华州）；丽莎·穆尔科斯基（Lisa Murkowski，共和党，阿拉斯加州）；以及理查德·布卢门撒尔（Richard Blumenthal，民主党，康涅狄格州）。
“These restrictions reportedly degraded Ukraine’s ability to conduct defensive operations against Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure… Starlink and Starshield capabilities are important components of Ukraine’s military communications infrastructure, supporting command and control, unmanned systems, and operational coordination,” senators wrote.
参议员们写道：“据报道，这些限制削弱了乌克兰针对俄罗斯对民用基础设施的无人机和导弹袭击进行防御行动的能力……‘星链’和‘星盾’能力是乌克兰军事通信基础设施的重要组成部分，支持着指挥与控制、无人系统和作战协调。”
In addition to satellite problems, the letter raised concerns about reports of intelligence-sharing disruptions and asked whether the “reported intelligence-sharing disruptions and Starlink restrictions were connected.” Senators want to know whether “deliberate policy decisions, technical failures, contractor actions, or other causes” were behind the intelligence-sharing and Starlink problems.
除了卫星问题外，这封信还对有关情报共享中断的报道表示担忧，并询问“报道的情报共享中断与‘星链’限制之间是否存在关联”。参议员们想知道情报共享和“星链”问题背后是否是“蓄意的政策决定、技术故障、承包商行为或其他原因”。
We write with grave concern regarding reported disruptions to critical US-supported communications and intelligence-sharing capabilities in Ukraine that have endangered American personnel and potentially compromised Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks. We are particularly alarmed by incidents in which US diplomatic, military, and security personnel were unable to reach designated bunkers during Russian air raids, amid reported disruptions to intelligence-sharing and early-warning capabilities.
我们怀着极大的担忧写下这封信，关于乌克兰境内美国支持的关键通信和情报共享能力据报道出现中断，这危及了美国人员的安全，并可能损害了乌克兰防御俄罗斯导弹和无人机袭击的能力。我们对在情报共享和预警能力据报道中断期间，美国外交、军事和安全人员无法在俄罗斯空袭时进入指定掩体的情况感到特别震惊。
Musk accused Ukraine of violating Starlink terms. Several days after a report that Musk ordered the slowdown, he accused Ukraine of violating Starlink terms of service by using it for lethal drone strikes. Musk said that offensive drone strikes must rely instead on Starshield, not Starlink.
马斯克指责乌克兰违反“星链”条款。在有报道称马斯克下令减速的几天后，他指责乌克兰将“星链”用于致命的无人机袭击，从而违反了其服务条款。马斯克表示，进攻性无人机袭击必须依赖“星盾”而非“星链”。
Ukraine officials denied Musk’s accusation that it improperly used Starlink and said the speed limit affected their use of Starshield until it was fixed last weekend. “Ukraine’s Defense Ministry told reporters on Oct. 24 that Starshield was working above speeds of 400 kilometers per hour (about 248 miles per hour) again,” according to The Kyiv Independent.
乌克兰官员否认了马斯克关于其不当使用“星链”的指控，并表示速度限制影响了他们对“星盾”的使用，直到上周末该问题得到解决。据《基辅独立报》报道，“乌克兰国防部 10 月 24 日告诉记者，‘星盾’在超过每小时 400 公里（约 248 英里）的速度下已恢复正常工作。”
Musk has said that all limits on Starshield speed and usage “are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Trump denied ordering the restrictions, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration had “no foreknowledge” of the slowdown.
马斯克曾表示，对“星盾”速度和使用的所有限制“均由美国军方决定，最终由美国总统决定”。特朗普否认下令实施这些限制，国务卿马可·鲁比奥（Marco Rubio）表示，政府对此次减速“事先不知情”。
Shaheen yesterday said, “It is concerning that the inspector general has apparently decided not to investigate satellite communication disruptions that Ukraine relies on to protect its civilians,” according to CNN. Shaheen said the Trump administration and SpaceX gave “conflicting accounts of what led to those disruptions, which weakened Ukraine’s defenses and put American personnel in Ukraine at risk unnecessarily. There must be an independent accounting and review to determine responsibility and prevent this from happening in the future. I urge the inspector general to conduct a full investigation.”
据 CNN 报道，沙欣昨天表示：“监察长显然决定不对乌克兰赖以保护平民的卫星通信中断进行调查，这令人担忧。”沙欣表示，特朗普政府和 SpaceX 对“导致这些中断的原因给出了相互矛盾的说法，这削弱了乌克兰的防御能力，并使在乌克兰的美国人员面临不必要的风险。必须进行独立的核算和审查，以确定责任并防止此类事件再次发生。我敦促监察长进行全面调查。”
Putin praises Musk as Russia plans Starlink alternative. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday reportedly called Elon Musk a “genius” while discussing Russia’s plan to build a satellite constellation. Putin made the comment at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow. “The admission was all the more striking because a version of Starlink, developed by Musk’s SpaceX, has been used by Ukraine’s military throughout the war with Russia as a key component of drone operations and battlefield communications,” Reuters wrote in an article describing Putin’s comments.
普京称赞马斯克，俄罗斯计划建立“星链”替代方案。与此同时，据报道，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京周三在讨论俄罗斯建立卫星星座的计划时，称埃隆·马斯克为“天才”。普京是在莫斯科举行的俄罗斯-非洲峰会上发表这一评论的。路透社在描述普京评论的文章中写道：“这一承认之所以更加引人注目，是因为马斯克旗下 SpaceX 开发的‘星链’版本在整个俄乌战争期间一直被乌克兰军队用作无人机作战和战场通信的关键组成部分。”