Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wasatch!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: military@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Depleted Uranium rounds & armor Message-ID: <8171@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 12 Jul 89 01:24:09 GMT Organization: BRS Information Technologies Lines: 31 Approved: military@att.att.com From: brspyr1.brs.com!miket (Mike Trout) In sci.military Digest Monday, 10 July, 1989 Volume 2 : Issue 41 "Nicholas C. Hester" writes: > > DU is extremely hard, and denser than tungsten (or lead); these two > > properties make it an excellent choice for kinetic energy armor > > penetrators. [ ... ] An added bonus of DU is that it is somewhat > > pyrophoric; that is, it is easy to ignite (say, by slamming it into a > > metal plate at a few thousand feet per second 8-); this gives it an added > > incendiary >effect, which may or may not be useful against tanks. - Bill ] > This is interesting in that the Army is going to add DU to the armor of the > M1. Will this help protect the tank, or possibly create a greater incendiary > situation? In one installment of "For Your Eyes Only" in the old _Strategy_&_Tactics_, I recall a brief discussion on depleted uranium rounds. One interesting point raised (that I have not heard mentioned since) was _S&T's_ contention that upon encountering massive G forces (such as would occur upon striking armor at high speed), a DU round will emit an intensely lethal but extremely brief burst of radiation. They claimed this could very well be fatal to armor crews, even if the round did no other damage. Does this sound logical? I have the issue and can dig it out with some effort, if anybody wants the specifics. -- NSA food: Iran sells Nicaraguan drugs to White House through CIA, SOD & NRO. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Michael Trout (miket@brspyr1)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BRS Information Technologies, 1200 Rt. 7, Latham, N.Y. 12110 (518) 783-1161 "God forbid we should ever be 20 years without...a rebellion." Thomas Jefferson