“If the Gunsmoke experiments are successful, then this work could lead to future systems, which would enhance long-range precision fires in support of the warfighter.”-Rebecca Nagurney, Gunsmoke deputy program manager
NASA photo.
On 30JUN2021, Grumman built Cygnus class SS (Space Ship) Katherine Johnson deployed a U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) ‘Gunsmoke’ targeting satellite.
Northrop Grumman photo.
The SS Katherine Johnson is a remote controlled cargo ship, and was deployed to the International Space Station (ISS) in February 2021 (called NG-15 resupply mission). Normally, the Cygnus class space ship is used to bring supplies to the ISS, and then haul trash away. This time it launched five ‘CubSats’ as it left the ISS, on 29JUN2021, including the U.S. Army’s Gunsmoke.
NASA video, SS Katherine Johnson deploys from the ISS, 29JUN2021:
In this NASA promo video, the U.S. Army’s Gunsmoke is not mentioned among the other experiments carried by SS Katherine Johnson NG-15:
Photo by Jason Cutshaw.
Gunsmoke-J (‘J’ for Jacob’s Ladder, a type of CubSat) is an APNT (Assured Position Navigation and Timing) satellite. It is a small satellite designed to provide combat units on planet Earth with location information about possible targets on the ground. The Gunsmoke program has been in the works for the past fives years.
The U.S. Army Space Force has launched three Gunsmoke-Js; one on an Electron rocket at the end of March 2021, a second deployed via SS Katherine Johnson at the end of June (after launching from Earth in February),…..
Virgin Orbit photo.
….and the third was launched off a modified Virgin Orbit Boeing 747 (Operation Tubular Bells: Part One) also at the end of June: “This deployment and same day launch of two separate Gunsmoke-J satellites is a major step toward demonstrating what we believe will be enabling tactical warfighter capability.”-Wheeler ‘Chip’ Hardy, USASMDC Technical Center Space Directorate’s Space Applications Division
A total of seven Gunsmoke-J CubSats will be deployed in 2021, some launched from New Zealand.
U.S. Army photo by Private First Class Karleshia Gater.
On Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, ‘Space Cross-Functional Team (SCFT)’ soldiers pose in front of one of their ‘sensor tech’ devices during what is called a Sensor-to-Shooter (S2S) exercise, 24MAR2021. S2S exercises are developing the Earth based component of the APNT system.
2020: U.S. Army Selects TriSept to Integrate and Deploy Gunsmoke-J