Pakistan Also Produces Depleted Uranium Ammo!

[umair]

I just got to know from a site that Pakistan manufactures DU munitions! (I can't believe I didn't know this)
Searched on the web and got confirmation from a number of sites.
According to what I learned, two calibers of APFSDS DU rounds are manufactured :
1)a 105 mm round for use with the Al-Zarar tank(Upgraded T-59s)
2)A 125 mm round for use with the T-80s,T-85s & Al-Khalids.(The round's name is NAZIA and is manufactured by a Pakistani private defence contractor)

Now if we only had a gun as good as the M1A2's or Leo's .Who knows maybe in the next few years we may also come up a hybrid DU/Ceramic armour for our Al-khalids.(Though it may not be as good as the DU/CHOBHAM combo on the M1s and Challengers but still would be hellishly difficult to penetrate)
Follow up Links:
www.pakdef.info/ideas2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1108058.stm
http://baltimorechronicle.com/uranium_dec01.html
http://idex.janes.com

[Rw #30]

What so good about it

[Revival_786]

"For decades, this refuse was a radioactive nuisance, piling up at plutonium processing plants. By the late 1980s there was nearly a billion tons of this material—called tailings—left over in U.S. dumps. Then Pentagon weapons designers came up with a use for the tailings: they could be molded into bullets and bombs. The material was free, and there was plenty at hand. Depleted Uranium is 1.7 times denser than lead, and this means that it can form the core of a shell that will easily penetrate the steel armor of tanks and other military vehicles. It is triumph of military technology. At high speed, it slices through tanks like a hot knife through butter. Some flying bombs (A-10s and possibly some Tomahawks, etc.), are made of DU metal."

Source:

http://baltimorechronicle.com/duranium_dec01.html

[suleman]

Originally Posted by Rw #30

What so good about it

U better ask whats not good abt it.

Its not new Pakistan making them from early 90's.Indeed a great effort and nice achievement.

[Revival_786]

Yeah I agree But the problem is that they pollute...

[suleman]

In military applications, when alloyed, Depleted Uranium [DU] is ideal for use in armor penetrators. These solid metal projectiles have the speed, mass and physical properties to perform exceptionally well against armored targets. DU provides a substantial performance advantage, well above other competing materials. This allows DU penetrators to defeat an armored target at a significantly greater distance. Also, DU's density and physical properties make it ideal for use as armor plate. DU has been used in weapon systems for many years in both applications.
Depleted uranium results from the enriching of natural uranium for use in nuclear reactors. Natural uranium is a slightly radioactive metal that is present in most rocks and soils as well as in many rivers and sea water. Natural uranium consists primarily of a mixture of two isotopes (forms) of uranium, Uranium-235 (U235) and Uranium-238 (U238), in the proportion of about 0.7 and 99.3 percent, respectively. Nuclear reactors require U235 to produce energy, therefore, the natural uranium has to be enriched to obtain the isotope U235 by removing a large part of the U238. Uranium-238 becomes DU, which is 0.7 times as radioactive as natural uranium. Since DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, there is very little decay of those DU materials.

Even bullets are also made on this tech
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/M919diag.gif