South African billionaire assists with Ukrainian war effort
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South African-born billionaire Elon Musk is using his Starlink satellite system to help a Ukrainian drone unit destroy Russian weapons.
The Aerorozvidka air reconnaissance unit operates drones modified with thermal cameras to target Russian tanks and other military vehicles in the dark.
The Starlink Internet system enables drone teams to operate even if there are power blackouts which are common in the war-torn Ukraine.
Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov last month urged Musk to send his Starlink terminals to Ukraine and at least four shipments of the terminals have been received.
Musk has warned Starlink users in Ukraine to only turn on the system when needed because they can be targeted by enemy fire.
Musk who was raised in Johannesburg is the founder of SpaceX and Product Architect of Tesla.
With an estimated net worth of around US$245 billion, he is the wealthiest person in the world, according to both the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the Forbes real-time billionaires list.
-0- PANA CU/MA 22March2022
