Quote:
Originally Posted by Homer
Here’s what I know-
Copperhead ended its production run in 1990 due to budget cuts with about 20000, but was used successfully in ODS, OIF, and by the Lebanese Army. Used within its parameters and properly planned for, copperhead was effective against stationary or moving point targets using a properly planned shoot. Production could probably be restarted since much of the Copperhead’s form factor was the starting point for the 155mm LRLAP, but it’d have to ramp up. One thing in it favor is a lack of any other artillery delivered PGM at this time; copperhead shoots were frequently pre-planned to support SEAD or defensive operations by targeting ADA or breaching systems.
There’s multiple engagement techniques with LAWs and their kin, in ascending order of effectiveness: single fire, individual sequence fire, firing as a pair using seeing and adjustment, and volley fire (usually a fire team engagement with the team leader giving range). Munition conservation will play a part in determining method of engagement, but at the end of the day, neutralizing the threat is going to be paramount. After all, if your AT4 is stopping the tank, a lot of other things have failed!
What may happen is that engagement ranges will get closer as infantry learn to stalk tanks and use obstacles, mines, and deception to fix the enemy. Reducing engagement ranges will also help offset the lack of training of some late war replacements (ex-USAF ground crew for example). In this case, pair or volley fire may help maximize the effect of the AT fires by placing them under central control. Alternatively, a skilled gunner may engage with individual sequence fire, while the rest of the team/squad provides spotting and suppressive fires, like the chechens did in Grozny. If it all goes pear shaped, there’s always sticky bombs!
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I'll add my knowledge to yours.
The US Army currently has 12K COPPERHEADS in storage (all functional) and the Marine Corps has 3K functional and 1,500 nonfunctional units in inventory. Nonfunctional COPPERHEADS have issues with their sensors not working or failing intermittently. You can test the sensors in the field. When I served, the Special Weapons van of our battery would carry 3 COPPERHEADS and a laser designator for targeting. We were trained to test & maintain the round's sensor in the field. Each round cost $30K in 1989. I'm sure that pricing has dropped as the technology was dispersed among the US military
The COPPERHEAD pioneered the discriminated laser designation system. A discriminated laser homing head allows the user to select one of SEVERAL infrared spectrums that the seeker will home in on. The modern APK "Precision Kill Kit" for the 70mm Hydra rocket and the early JADAM kits both use a nearly identical system. There are 3 screws, each with several settings, on the warhead. By turning the individual screws to various numbers, you set the IR frequency/wavelength that the seeker can "see." This allows you to use multiple designators to paint multiple targets without confusing the rounds. Our most commonly used wavelength was 850nm, compared with 680nm for visible lasers.
Our Laser Designators were large clunky boxes weighing between 4kg and 6kg and emitting an INVISIBLE beam (850nm requires NVGs to see). We would use an optical sight (X25) mounted on the Designator to ensure we were "painting the target." The whole contraption was mounted on a free-moving camera tripod so you could "track" a target. In the 90s, those box designators got a LOT smaller thanks to digital upgrades. If you want to see a clunky 80s-era Designator, just watch the movie BATTLE LOS ANGELES. That's an 80s-vintage Designator that they are using to paint the alien command ship. I was laughing hard when I saw that. Modern Designators are the same size and weight as a modern laser rangefinder sold by sporting goods stores and can be carried in your pocket.
The effective range of a Gen I Designator was around 5km. The upgraded GEN II (digitally enhanced) Designator could reach out to 10km. The "Sniper Pod" the Air Force uses is rumored to be able to designate a target 50km away, but I'm not sure if this is really true. It must be able to do at least 25km since Gen I MAVERICK Missiles could hit targets that far away. In addition, these Designators can be adversely affected by bad weather (such as rain, fog, or snow), smoke (especially HOT smoke from WP or oil/fuel fires), and dust. I give a ONE DIFFICULTY SHIFT down under each of these conditions. Other conditions can completely block the IR laser beam. The Shorta's aerosol grenades (which are clear to normal video and human vision), Dual-Spectrum Smoke Grenades (which block ALL line-of-sight, unlike HC which is transparent to thermal imagers), and certain types of reflective Chaff fall into this category.