British army plans to end use of depleted uranium ammunition
| | News | 29 September 2003 |
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The British government is preparing to remove depleted uranium rounds from service under Ministry of Defence plans to improve the fighting capability of the Army's Challenger II tank. As part of the enhancement programme, the tank will be fitted with a different gun which can fire a wider variety of more effective, and less controversial, ammunition types.
British tanks currently use a rifled gun which can fire only two types of ordnance, high explosive and depleted uranium (DU) rounds. This limitation will disappear in the next few years, if, as expected, the MoD decides to have its new tanks built with a different type of gun.
Recent advances in tank ammunition have also led to the development of a new generation of rounds that will no longer be dependent on depleted uranium to achieve the same level of penetration against modern armour. The production of DU ammunition by the Royal Ordnance, the British arms manufacturer, ceased earlier this year.
Sources: The Telegraph and WISE
During the War in Iraq, British tanks expended 1.9 tons of DU (approximately twice as much as in the 1990-91 Gulf Conflict). Since the US government has so far not disclosed any numbers, the total amount of DU spent during the war it is as yet unknown.
For more on the use of DU by the British and American armed forces in Iraq see the RISQ Report Dutch Troops and Parliament not informed about use of depeleted uranium in South Iraq by Maarten H.J. van den Berg. For related links see RISQ's DU Dossier.
Published on 29 September 2003 by RISQ
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