How ‘outdated’ US weapons are making a big difference in the Ukraine war

A surprise weapon is hitting Russian tanks in Ukraine: US laser-guided Copperhead 155mm artillery rounds from the 1980s.

This is not just the US Army dumping some of its outdated stock to an ally grateful for anything it can get; the precision artillery rounds have become useful because more modern US weapons no longer work on the battlefield.

And that is a powerful sign that the Army needs to look again at the vulnerability of its modern systems-technology mix and develop a new version of the laser-guided munition as a backup.

Laser-guided or “smart” bombs were introduced in the 1960s and revolutionized air power.

Moving fins steered the bomb precisely to a point illuminated by a laser designator, carried either by the bombing plane or a wingman.

Instead of a massive bomber raid, one aircraft could precisely put a bomb on a bridge or bunker.

Copperhead applied the same idea to artillery: Instead of having a battery of guns firing a barrage of shells into the target area in the hope that one of them would hit, why not have a laser-guided shell and guarantee a hit with the first shot?

This approach needs an operator with a laser designator in direct line of sight of the target, easier for aircraft than artillery.

The Army set out to solve the problem with the Lockheed Aquila, a drone for target location and laser designation, but it was a disaster.

Aquila resembled some modern drones, with a 12-foot wingspan and a 24-horsepower piston engine, but 1980s electronics were not up to the task.

A billion dollars were poured into the project before the Army pulled the plug.

Yet the Army ordered thousands of Copperhead rounds anyway, planning for observers on foot or in special vehicles to put a laser spot on the target from a few miles away.

Copperhead shells were used in Iraq during Desert Storm in 1991, but only on a small scale; 90 were fired and reportedly performed well, despite dust and smoke that could disrupt the laser beam.

By this time, the Air Force’s satellite Global Positioning System was changing everything.

With GPS guidance, an artillery shell could be programmed to hit a target far out of sight with no need for a designator nearby.

And unlike the laser-guided Copperhead, it would not be affected by smoke, dust or sand.

The remaining Copperheads were put in storage, and new Excalibur GPS-guided shells were widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Ukrainians received a small number of Excalibur guided shells in addition to unguided artillery rounds.

These performed well at first, but by May 2024, they started missing targets: The GPS satellite signal was being blocked by Russian jamming, and the shells were unable to find their way.

Excalibur is supposedly jam-resistant, but jammers are constantly evolving, and this time the Russians had the edge.

Someone thought of dusting off the Copperheads, which do not rely on GPS and so are immune to radio jamming.

Ukraine already had a fleet of drones ready which could carry laser designators. These include fixed-wing drones like Raybird — carrying out the role that Aquila was designed for — and various multicopters.

Both types have been fitted with lightweight designators.

Copperhead rounds first appeared in Ukraine in November 2024 and video of them hitting targets was posted slightly afterward.

And while there is something poetic about the fact that these decades-old rounds are now targeting the similarly ancient T-72 tanks they were intended for, there is something more important: Developers believe that future developments, in particular the so-called M-code signal for military use, will make GPS-guided weapons resistant to jamming again.

This is an act of faith, though. Jamming technology is constantly improving, and the game of move and countermove will never end.

Ukraine has shown that small, ubiquitous drones can find battlefield targets and designate them for laser-guided artillery and bombs.

It would make sense for the United States to capitalize on the experience of developing and deploying Copperheads to create a new generation of laser-seeking munitions — just in case they run into an opponent whose jamming technology suddenly makes all those modern GPS-guided weapons useless again.

David Hambling is the author of “Swarm Troopers: How Small Drones Will Conquer the World.”