Direct proof of use
Defense Express reported on February 16, 2025 that Ukraine's 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade used an American M712 Copperhead shell to strike a Russian observation post, attributing the report to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. The same article said the shot was fired from an M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer and guided by a drone carrying a laser designator.
Forces News separately reported that the Ukrainian armed forces had confirmed combat use of the U.S.-designed M712 Copperhead, and described the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade firing the munition in an engagement against a Russian observation post. UNITED24 Media also reported a January 2025 strike in which Ukrainian forces used a U.S.-supplied M712 Copperhead guided artillery shell against a reinforced Russian bunker in the occupied Kherson region.
Sources: Defense Express Paladin Strike, Forces News Copperhead Confirmation, UNITED24 Kherson Bunker Strike
Timeline
The first public reports in this record appeared in November 2024, when Defense Express described social-media-sourced evidence of M712 Copperhead use near Sudzha during Ukraine's Kursk-region operation. That report said three projectiles were fired from an M777 howitzer at a communications tower east of Sudzha, but it framed the evidence as reports from social networks rather than as an official Ukrainian announcement.
By January and February 2025, later reporting described additional and more explicit battlefield use. UNITED24 Media reported a January 29, 2025 video-linked strike on a Russian fortification in Hola Prystan in occupied Kherson region, and Defense Express and Forces News then reported Ukrainian-confirmed 47th Brigade use in February 2025.
Sources: Defense Express Kursk Strike, UNITED24 Kherson Bunker Strike, Defense Express Paladin Strike, Forces News Copperhead Confirmation
Battlefield role
In Ukrainian service, the sourced role was precision artillery fire against discrete Russian positions: a communications tower in the Kursk report, a reinforced bunker or fortification in Kherson-region reporting, and an observation post in the 47th Brigade account. The weapon's laser-guided terminal homing meant the round depended on target designation rather than satellite navigation.
The White Sands Missile Range Museum describes Copperhead as a high-explosive, laser-guided anti-tank projectile fired from compatible 155 mm howitzers, with a target-designation workflow in which a laser designator illuminates the target before impact. That technical background fits the Ukraine reports describing M777 and M109A6 Paladin firing platforms and laser designation from a drone or field designator, but the conflict-use claim rests on the Ukraine-specific reporting.
Sources: Defense Express Kursk Strike, UNITED24 Kherson Bunker Strike, Defense Express Paladin Strike, White Sands Missile Range Museum M712 Copperhead
