Reports have started to emerge on social media indicating that during operations in the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian Defense Forces utilized a guided projectile of the M712 Copperhead type in one of the combat episodes. This projectile has a caliber of 155 mm and is guided by a laser beam.
The uniqueness of this situation lies in the fact that the M712 Copperhead was developed and mass-produced in the United States in the 1970s, essentially representing the first generation of guided projectiles. Thus, the appearance of such munitions on the battlefield under modern conditions seemed, to put it mildly, highly improbable.
(Below is a screenshot of the original message from social media).
It is noted that the guided projectile M712 Copperhead was used to target a metal communication tower east of Suji, with three of these guided projectiles expended on the target. The firing of these projectiles was conducted using the M777 howitzer.
The distinctive feature of the M712 Copperhead is that it is guided to the target by a laser beam, with a firing range between 3 to 16 kilometers. The weight of the projectile itself is 62.4 kilograms.
Mass production of the M712 Copperhead began in 1978 and is currently not being produced. The U.S. Army first utilized such projectiles during Operation Desert Storm, firing a total of 90 of these munitions.
Publicly available data indicates that as of 1995, the U.S. armed forces had up to 20,000 guided munitions of the M712 Copperhead type in their inventory.
There is also information suggesting that in 2017, the Lebanese government forces received "several hundred" M712 Copperhead projectiles from the U.S. to counter ISIS units.
From Defense Express, we would like to emphasize that it is currently unknown from which sources and in what quantities the Ukrainian Defense Forces may have acquired the M712 Copperhead for use against Russian occupiers. However, the option to utilize guided munitions with laser guidance to strike enemy targets is promising, especially in light of the enemy's active use of electronic warfare capabilities.
In one of our publications, we discussed how the Armed Forces of Ukraine employ trophy Russian precision shells "Krasnopol" and why it’s not so straightforward. The mention of "Krasnopol" is particularly relevant here, as there are grounds to believe that the USSR once "borrowed" technological solutions from the American M712 Copperhead for this guided projectile, which was adopted into service in 1986.