Britain will give Ukraine Challneger 2 tanks with shells that contain depleted uranium to increase armor-piercing action

The Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive shells containing depleted uranium. This was announced by the Deputy

British Secretary of Defense Baroness Annabel Goldie in response to a request on the website of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

What is known

Great Britain will give Ukraine shells fromdepleted uranium along with a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks. We note right away that the use of such ammunition has nothing to do with the use of nuclear weapons.

Sub-caliber projectiles with cores made ofdepleted uranium significantly increase the armor-piercing effect due to the high specific gravity. The density of depleted uranium is 19,050 kg/m3. This is 67% more than the density of lead, but slightly less than the density of tungsten.

First to use depleted uraniumGermany. The reason was the shortage of dense tungsten. The United States began manufacturing such munitions about 50 years ago. At the moment, the British Challenger 2 tanks, the American Abrams and the German Leopard 2 can use shells with depleted uranium cores.