Army A-10 Warthogs Cannons Can Fire Radioactive Bullets

War Is Boring

Security, Americas

No joke.

Today, “the Iraqi government is dealing with the clean-up of contaminated scrap metal, DU shrapnel and contaminated soil,” Zwijnenburg said. “Identification, assessment, clean-up and monitoring … is [a] costly and complex operation, requiring a sufficient amount of expertise and capacity, which usually isn’t available in states affected by armed conflict.”

American A-10 Warthogs have not and will not shoot any depleted uranium—or DU—ammunition when attacking militants in Iraq and Syria, according to the Pentagon. Humanitarians hope this could be a positive step in getting the military to stop using the toxic material for good.

(This first appeared several years ago.)

Four months ago, the U.S. Air Force sent the low- and slow-flying planes to join the air campaign against Islamic State. In the past, the aircraft have gone into battle with a mixed load of DU and more traditional high-explosive rounds for the devastating 30-millimeter Gatling gun.

But “A-10 aircraft [in the region] are not equipped with PGU-14 armor piercing incendiary ammunition,” a public affairs officer for the Pentagon task force in the region confirmed in an email to War Is Boring, using the technical name for the cartridges.

The projectile in each milk-bottle shaped PGU-14 contains a DU dart encased inside a layer of aluminum. This penetrating dart can pierce through tanks and other heavy armored vehicles.

A byproduct of producing fuel for nuclear reactors, DU is cheaper than similarly dense metals like tungsten. Numerous countries have used the material to make both armor-penetrating aircraft and tank ammunition, as well as protective plates.