Weapon I-D: Cold War Copperhead, still in use

Copperhead snake

The North American Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) pit-viper.

The laser guided artillery round called M712 Copperhead, was the result of an early 1970s concept, tested by the early 1980s, and first used in combat during Operation Desert Storm despite the fact that production ceased in 1990 (according to Lockheed Martin). It can be launched by several 155mm artillery systems that use NATO standardized ammo.

An M712 Copperhead cannon-launched laser-guided projectile is fired from a modified M198 155mm howitzer, 27FEB1984. White Sands Missile Test Range, New Mexico, photo by Tom Moore.

White Sands Missile Test Range, 27FEB1984, photo by Tom Moore.

White Sands Missile Range photo by Warren Weaver.

WSMR photo by Tom Moore.

U.S. Army & Marine Corps Inventory and Requirements for Artillery Projectiles, March 1995.

3-112th Field Artillery, New Jersey Army National Guard, unload M712 Copperhead cannon launched guided projectiles at Fort Drum, New York, 08JUN2000. New Jersey National Guard photo.

In the 1980s, it was estimated that each copperhead round cost U.S. taxpayers $22-thousand, and the U.S. Army wanted more than 44-thousand of them!

Idaho National Guard COLT of the 1-148 FA (HQ in Pocatello), identified by the AN/TVQ-2 Ground/Vehicular Laser Locator Designator (GVLLD, usually called a ‘glid’) mounted next to the .50 cal machine gun on this HMMWV, in 2016.

The GVLLD (‘glid’) used by artillery forward observers can be used to guide the Copperhead on-target.

U.S. Marine Corps Field Manual 6-40 discusses the use of M712 Copperhead.

In 2017, United Kingdom based BAE Systems was hired to build a new Bradley based M109A7, which will carry at least three M712 Copperhead rounds.

Vehicle I-D, March 2021: U.S. M109A7 PALADIN, ANOTHER ‘TOOL’ OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE!

In March 2021, the U.S. Army presented to the U.S .Congress its reasons for why it needs new, better, longer range artillery systems.