Modern conflict’s key asset isn’t drones. It’s satellite infrastructure.
Without satellite support, a drone is little more than airborne hardware. Yet most discussions on modern conflict stop at the drone - and never ask what's behind it. A drone without satellite support is a blind machine. What drives these systems, and what makes them precise, is the satellite infrastructure feeding them.
Every major combat drone system in use today relies on satellites for at least one of three functions:
Navigation via GPS / GNSS
Communications and control links via SATCOM
Intelligence via imagery and ISR feeds
The Ukraine conflict made this dependency impossible to ignore - by early 2026, Russia mounted Starlink satellite terminals on its Molniya strike drones, allowing them to evade Ukraine's ground-based electronic warfare.
In the Middle East, Iranian drones like the Shahed-136 (Geran-2) use a hybrid system that connects to both civilian GPS and Russia's GLONASS. Newer versions are equipped with Controlled Reception Pattern Antennas (CRPA), which enable drones to bypass jamming signals and lock onto satellite data. Iran also have access to Chinese Beidou system, which is considered to be highly accurate. BeiDou's military-grade B3A signal uses frequency hopping and Navigation Message Authentication that makes it effectively resistant to conventional spoofing.
A generation of drones are now developing that reduce dependency on live satellite feeds altogether. A key example is Turkish company Baykar’s K2 drone, that can autonomously estimate its location by visually scanning the terrain and can visually pinpoint targets even without GNSS. However, this does not take away the importance of satellite imagery. Satellite imagery is absolutely necessary and is used beforehand to pre-load the onboard maps, reference images, or 3D terrain models (before launch).
While drones will see varying degrees of development, what will not be replaced is the use of satellite imagery to understand conflict zones and military positions.
The countries that will hold asymmetric advantage in future conflicts are those with drones as well as access to accurate pin-pointed satellite data and imagery. The countries with resilient and layered satellite infrastructure - covering communications, navigation, and persistent ISR – will be the winners.
For executives and policymakers thinking about defense investment or national capability: the drone is the visible weapon, but the satellite is the invisible one that decides how it works and the accuracy of it. In every conflict playing out right now, the side that controls the space layer controls the outcome. That is where the strategic decisions - and the capital - need to go.