Starlink outage halted 20+ US Navy drones

Internal U.S. Navy documents reveal a significant operational disruption caused by a Starlink satellite internet outage in August 2025. The outage forced more than 20 unmanned surface vessels (USVs) conducting operations off the coast of California to halt all activity for almost an hour. The incident, reported by Reuters, highlights the military's growing dependence on commercial satellite networks for critical command and control functions. This vulnerability raises questions about the resilience of unmanned systems in contested or degraded communication environments.