© 2001 Jane's Information Group. All rights reserved
08 January 2001
DEPLETED URANIUM - FAQs
What is Depleted Uranium?
Depleted Uranium (DU) is only used as a
penetrator. It is not a warhead, bomb or
explosive.
For what is Depleted Uranium used on the
battlefield?
It is used to penetrate the armour of modern,
the residual penetrator (and the high
temperature fragments created as it passes
through the armour) striking everything inside
the tank and setting fire to its fuel and
ammunition. In the Balkans, this would include
the M84A (Russian T-72) main battle tanks of
the Bosnian Serb VRS and the Serbian VJ
forces. In the Gulf war, some of the Iraqi tanks
were of the same T-72 type, manned by
Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guards.
Who used it in the Balkans?
During the Balkans operations from 1992 to
1996, only the US Air Force acknowledges its
use in some of its 30mm cannon shells fired
from the GAU-8A cannon. It is true that some
guided weapons used depleted uranium to
increase the penetration effect and that the
20mm Phalanx close-in weapon system, used
to protect warships at sea from sea-skimming
missiles, also has a percentage of DU rounds.
What about the British Army?
The British Army fired 88 DU rounds against
Iraqi tanks in the Gulf war; no such rounds
were fired during the Bosnian and Kosovan
campaigns. No British aircraft are equipped
with DU warheads on their weapons,
according to official reports. DU rounds are
‘war-use only’.
Any other uses?
DU is very dense so is also used as a
counter-balance for large commercial aircraft
including the Boeing 747, military aircraft such
as the Harrier, and in yacht keels.
Also, on 14th March 1988 the US Department
of Defence announced that a new, modified
version of their Abrams main battle tank was
due to enter production which would have
improved armour containing DU. First
production M1A1s with the new armour were
completed in 1988. These tanks, which were
shipped to US units in Germany, weighed
about 65 tons. The heavy armour package
deployed in Europe includes DU in the turret.
The armour design modification to the M1A1
incorporates steel-encased depleted uranium
which is two and a half times the density of
steel and is already used in a broad spectrum
of civilian applications. Sealed within the tank,
depleted uranium has a very low level of
natural radiation which is within the acceptable
range established by the US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. Currently, versions of
the M1A2 tank also contain DU armour.
Can Depleted Uranium be replaced?
DU can be replaced (Britain, France, Russia
and the US are the only commonly
acknowledged users of DU as the penetrator
material in kinetic energy munitions). The
great majority of armies use kinetic energy
munitions with tungsten alloy penetrators;
however, these have a 20% lower penetrative
performance, and the sintered materials used
to make them are more expensive. Tungsten
may not emit radiation, but, in common with
DU, its particles are poisonous.
It is alleged that DU causes leukaemia?
Leukaemia is caused by (inter alia):
- Ionising radiation - x-rays, for example
- Derivatives of benzene (hydraulic fluid,
lubricating oil, fuel oil, ceramic armour and
other products found in modern armoured
vehicles)
- Viruses
What happens when a DU round hits a
tank?
The DU penetrator hits the tank armour, both
the penetrator and armour partially liquefying
under pressure. Once the armour has been
perforated, that part of the penetrator which
has not melted, together with the molten
armour and fragments that break away from
the interior, ricochet inside the vehicle. This
usually causes a fire. Studies in the USA, UK
and France show that when an armoured
vehicle burns at about 10,000 degrees C, the
resulting oxidisation of the materials aboard,
including benzene products and depleted
uranium, can create particulates that are
harmful to the human body; ingested they can
affect the lungs and kidneys.