{"id":24097,"date":"2021-07-12T20:20:12","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T20:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/12\/with-all-three-gunsmoke-j-satellites-on-orbit-the-army-is-ready-to-test-space-based-targeting\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:15:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:15:59","slug":"with-all-three-gunsmoke-j-satellites-on-orbit-the-army-is-ready-to-test-space-based-targeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/space\/2021\/07\/12\/with-all-three-gunsmoke-j-satellites-on-orbit-the-army-is-ready-to-test-space-based-targeting\/","title":{"rendered":"With all three Gunsmoke-J satellites on orbit, the Army is ready to test space-based targeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 It\u2019s no secret that the U.S. Army wants to be able to target threats using imagery satellites, and now the service has a trio of bread loaf-sized cubesats on orbit to help test that capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army is keen to use the vantage of space to find and target beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) threats<\/a>. While satellite imagery has traditionally been a product of the intelligence community, the development of relatively affordable yet highly capable small satellites that can operate in low Earth orbit has convinced military leaders that it can play a tactical role<\/a> on the battlefield. In a demonstration last fall<\/a>, the Army was able to show that it could take images from satellites on orbit down to Earth, process them with artificial intelligence to find threats, and deliver targeting data to weapon systems in about 20 seconds. That speed is opening a whole slew of possibilities to commanders, enabling them to \u201csee\u201d further down the battlefield in near real time than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\t