Ukrainian special forces operators infiltrated into Russia carrying the bulky elements of a Cold War-era laser designation system before calling in precision-guided artillery projectiles on a critically important Russian air defense radar, Ukrainian news reports said on Thursday.
The cross-border raid reportedly in support of Ukraine’s three-month-old invasion of Russia’s Kursk region used an equally aged weapon to make the attack – a US M712 Copperhead 155mm laser-guided howitzer rounds – which had not previously been reported as being used in combat in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
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The commando team was said to have called in three of the projectiles fired from a US-made M777 towed howitzer to hit the communications tower near the Russian villages of Pravda and Martynovka, some eight kilometers (five miles) to the north-east of the town of Sudzha. Ukraine’s gunners reportedly scored two direct hits and one near-miss in the engagement.
The original source of reports of Copperhead munitions being used was a Telegram channel operated by a pro-Russian milblogger and drone operator calling himself FPV-выZOV. On Nov. 1 the channel published a 266-page file that was, purportedly, a Russian-language translation of a lessons learned report compiled by Ukraine’s special operations forces (SSO) during combat in Russia’s Kursk region from Aug. 4 to Sept. 6.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December, 21, 2024
Kyiv Post’s researchers reviewed the document and found it to be consistent with both Ukrainian military doctrinal content, and reporting standards typically produced by special operations forces.
Ukraine’s Special Forces Command had not responded to a request for comment at the time this article was published.
The bulk of the report focused on selected SSO cross-border missions during the early phases of Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region. The Ukrainian military analytical group Defense Express and Ukrainian mainstream media reported the SSO report was likely authentic and that the Copperhead strike, which reportedly took place on Sept. 1.
The report’s section on SSO infiltrators’ calling in artillery fire on targets behind Russian lines described in detail how an eight-man patrol drove and then backpacked a laser designator to within 2.25 kilometers (1.4 miles) of the Russian radar mounted on a communications tower. After “painting” the tower they then called in the Copperhead strike fired from the Ukrainian side of the border.
Two of the rounds performed as designed, directly striking the radar dishes. The third shell missed because its optical sensor was damaged prior to firing, the report said. No more shots were possible because the Ukrainian firing unit only held three Copperheads.
Conventional Ukrainian combat units invaded Russia’s Kursk region on Aug. 6. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that the incursion should be eliminated by Oct. 1, and then by Oct. 17, but Russian forces in the region missed both deadlines.
Other sections of the wide-ranging report offered case studies on tactics used for quick reaction forces, roadside ambushes, close assault of defensive positions, casualty evacuation, electronic warfare, messaging, vehicle concealment with smoke, personal kit, weapons, air defense and use of drones. Images in the ambush, artillery operations and close assault sections reviewed by Kyiv Post matched video and photographs previously published by the SSO or the Ukrainian military.
Video stills and text in the document identified the laser system used in the attack as a Leonardo Type 163 Laser, an Australian-manufactured target designator in use by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and by some NATO nations including the UK. Open-sources indicated that four of the lasers were purchased in 2021 for £800,000 ($1 million).
The US developed the Copperhead shell in the 1970s for use against the Red Army on the North German plain but was first used in anger during 1991’s first Gulf war against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
It contains electronics that were advanced for the time but are now largely obsolescent. A single M712 Copperhead round cost $50-70,000 at the time with the US holding around 20,000 in 1995, according to Defense Express.
The Pentagon withdrew the Copperhead from service in the mid-1990s after exporting small quantities to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Taiwan.Delivery of neither the Copperhead munition nor the Type 163 Laser to Ukraine had been reported in Ukrainian media, until the Friday leak of the SSO after-action report. Unlike the Copperhead, the Type 163 is considered a modern system.
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