US antitank weapon copes poorly report says

The Pentagon decided to go ahead with the Copperhead laser-guided antitank weapon - despite an official report showing it has serious problems. According to documents released by a private watchdog group, the Copperhead coped poorly with common battlefield problems of bad weather, smoke, and moving targets in official 1979 tests. The Army had decided to scrap the $1.7 billion weapon after costs soared 100 percent, but Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger reversed the decision and requested funding from Congress for it.