US is probably going to transfer depleted uranium tank shells to Ukraine, - WSJ
The administration of US President Joe Biden is likely to provide the Defense Forces of Ukraine with armor-piercing shells with depleted uranium.
The Wall Street Journal writes about this with reference to sources among officials, Censor.NET reports with reference to Liga.net.
"A senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal that there appear to be no major obstacles to approval of the munitions," the article said.
This happened, the newspaper said, after "several weeks of internal debate" about how to equip the 31 Abrams tanks that the US will transfer to Ukraine, probably by the fall.
The Pentagon "urged" that the Abrams be armed with depleted uranium projectiles, which are used by the US military and are "very effective against Russian tanks." The journalists noted, without reference to the source of such information, that this type of projectile "is capable of penetrating the frontal armor of a Russian tank from a distance."
The proposal to arm the AFU with such munitions has been discussed at the White House, the WSJ noted, and some officials there have "expressed concern" that sending the shells could expose Washington to criticism for providing weapons that allegedly "may pose health and environmental hazards."
Currently, Ukrainian tankers are studying the operation and maintenance of "Abrams" in Germany.
Depleted uranium is a high-density metal (about three times the density of iron), used in the military industry for the production of combined armor and armor-piercing subcaliber projectiles.
According to Scott Boston, a military analyst at the Rand Corporation and a former Army artillery officer, such a projectile "hits like a freight train": "It's very long and very dense. So it directs a lot of kinetic energy to a specific point in the array of the enemy. armor
Tank-vs-tank battles don't seem to be very common in this war. But if this happens, we would like the Ukrainians to win in this."
