Ukraine gets an unexpected weapon from the U.S.

TOM MOORE; Service Depicted: U.S. Army - http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/; VIRIN: DA-SC-88-01655 A Copperhead laser-guided anti-tank missile fired from a towed M198 155 mm Howitzer approaches a target M47 tank.

The U.S. has provided Ukraine with M712 Copperhead laser-guided 155 mm artillery projectiles, recent battlefield footage reveals.

As reported by Portfolio, the U.S.-made M712 Copperhead laser-guided artillery round appeared in a Ukrainian video made in the Kursk region. Although there had been speculation that the American weapons were being used by Ukrainian forces, this is the first visual confirmation.

First image of an unboxed US-supplied M712 Copperhead 155mm laser-guided artillery shell in Ukrainian service, Kursk Oblast.

M712 Copperheads have the ability to put a 15-pound shaped charge warhead on a moving target 10 miles away from the artillery system. pic.twitter.com/7sbDSydeCB

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) November 11, 2024

The Russian Telegram channel had previously published leaked documents, allegedly compiled by a unit of the Ukrainian special forces, that they were using M712 laser-guided projectiles in the Kursk region since the beginning of August.

The 155-millimeter M712 Copperhead was developed in the United States in the 1970s and was first deployed in the 1991 Iraq War. It is no longer in production, with inventory figures as of 1995 showing fewer than 20,000 units. Its range is between 3 and 16 kilometers.

It is not yet known how many Copperheads Kyiv received and how long they have been used on the frontline.