“I wonder if the US military has the capability to provide satellite or UAV routers that would keep the internet open, despite the local government’s wishes.”
Yes, the US Military has their own independent Internet infrastructure. However, to keep the civilian Internet infrastructure operating should U.S. authorities try to shut it down would require insurrection.
On the other hand, at this time, I don’t think the U.S. government could shutdown the civilian Internet because it is owned and operated by several private companies, and short of sending in the U.S. military to forceably take control, the Feds would have to try and seek court orders should said private companies not wish to cooperate.
Additionally, shutting down the U.S. Internet would bring the entire U.S. to a halt almost as effectively as if all electric power was shut off. Should the U.S. government succeed in shutting down the civilian Internet, the result would fundamentally be apocalyptic, most likely resulting in total chaos, including large numbers of large armed confrontations amongst various segments of U.S. society.
You’re answering the opposite question to what I’m asking, which is, does the US military possess the capability to *sustain* the internet over a foreign country, when the government of that country seeks to cut it off from the local citizens. So the US military would be providing “ISPs in the sky” for the locals in the remote, foreign land. Not saying they should do it in Egypt, but just asking.