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Army's new tank gun will end use of controversial uranium-tipped shells
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 21/09/2003) 


The army is planning to end the use of depleted uranium tank rounds, the most 
controversial weapon in its armoury.

   
Iraqi children sit near a British Challenger tank in the city of Basra 
The depleted uranium rounds, which were used with great success by British 
armoured units in both Iraq wars and in the Kosovo campaign, are expected to be 
removed from service within six years and replaced with a new type of tank 
shell, which uses a different warhead.

The phasing out of depleted uranium rounds, which are used because of their 
armour piercing qualities, will please critics of the munition, including 
veterans of both the 1991 Gulf war and the Kosovo campaign.

They have long argued that the shells can be directly linked to leukaemia, 
kidney damage and lung cancer and is also one of the causes of Gulf war syndrome.

France, Spain and Italy all claim that soldiers from their armies who served 
in Bosnia and Kosovo, where the rounds were used by Nato forces, have 
contracted leukaemia and other cancers. However, medical opinion on the dangers is 
mixed with very few studies having been conducted.

The Government continues to insist that the munition is safe, but is 
preparing to remove depleted uranium rounds from service under Ministry of Defence 
plans to improve the fighting capability of the Army's Challenger 2 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 rounds. This limitation will 
disappear in the next few years, if, as expected, the MoD decides to have its new 
tanks built with a smooth bore 120mm gun, which is now used by most Nato armies.

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 
depleted uranium ammunition by the Royal Ordnance, the British arms 
manufacturer, ceased earlier this year.

The number of depleted uranium rounds in the British Army is classified 
information, but is estimated to be several thousand, sufficient to last for many 
years.

The Government has maintained that the munition does not pose any risk to 
servicemen and has offered those who fear that they may have been contaminated 
the opportunity to have independent medical tests.

Despite the Government's insistence that depleted uranium is safe, it is now 
accepted by many defence chiefs that its use is increasingly politically 
unacceptable because of its perceived threat to health and the environment.

It is estimated that up to 2,000 tonnes of depleted uranium may have been 
used during the recent war in Iraq.

Towards the end of the war, the United Nations Environment Programme said 
that there was likely to be a risk of inhaling depleted uranium dust, with large 
doses of potentially dangerous radiation within 150 metres of buildings and 
vehicles being hit by American and British munitions.

Soldiers returning from Iraq are now being offered tests for the level of 
depleted uranium in their bodies, which the MoD says it intends to publish.

Depleted uranium ammunition was designed to penetrate the armour of Soviet 
and Warsaw Pact tanks during the Cold War. It is a by-product of making nuclear 
bombs and fuel for reactors.

It is called "depleted" because it is far less reactive than uranium. It is 
1.7 times as dense as lead, so only small amounts are needed to be able to 
punch through armour.

In the Kosovo war in 1999, Nato forces used 31,000 rounds tipped with 
depleted uranium. About 18,000 rounds were also used in the alliance's previous 
campaign in Bosnia.

British tanks use the munition in a round called the "armour-piercing 
fin-stabilised discarding sabot". The round is fired at such a speed that against 
lightly armoured vehicles, such as those used by the Iraqis, it punches a hole 
straight through the tank. When it hits more modern armour it burns fiercely at 
very high temperatures, releasing a cloud of radioactive dust.

Both Britain and the United States have admitted that this dust can be 
dangerous if inhaled but they argue that there is more risk of chemical poisoning 
from the heavy metal than from the radiation, and that both dangers are only 
short-lived.

An MoD spokesman said: "Research is continuing into the alternatives to 
depleted uranium. We are considering investigations into the main armament options 
for tanks and the result of that will effect future equipment decisions but 
there are no specifics available at the moment."

 26 April 2003: MoD to test troops over uranium dust fears 
 23 September 2001: Veterans' alert on uranium shells 
 13 January 2001: US Army gave cancer warning over uranium  
 12 January 2001: Leukaemia link 'is implausible' 
 6 January 2001: Cheap, plentiful and toxic 
 31 December 2000: Radiation tests for peacekeepers in Balkans exposed to 
depleted uranium 

   External links   
  
 Iraqi cities 'hot' with depleted uranium [4 Sep '03] - Coastal Post 
  
 Depleted uranium - Ministry of Defence  
  
 Gulf Veterans Illnesses - MoD 
  
 National Gulf Veterans' and Families' Association - healthboards.com  
  
 Gulf Veterans Association