Military Weapons and Environment by Umesh Chandra Jha

Author:Umesh Chandra Jha [Jha, Umesh Chandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789386288943
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Sun Links Ltd
Published: 2017-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

DU is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process. It is alloyed with other metals principally to make armour-piercing ammunition and to harden armour used to shield military vehicles.6 Armour-piercing incendiary projectiles that contain DU are designed to penetrate hard targets, such as tanks, armoured personnel carriers and concrete bunkers. The DU penetrator contains no explosive charge, rather it relies on kinetic energy. Its density and velocity allow it to bore through targets without buckling or losing much speed. The heat released when the DU comes into contact with air inside the target cause it to ignite. The crew risks death or disablement from the spalling and fire inside the target, which may explode if a vehicle’s fuel tanks ignite. While the radioactive toxicity of DU is not very high, its chemical toxicity is.

When a DU projectile hits the target, dust containing particles of various sizes is formed. Most of the dust particles have been reported to be smaller than 5 µm in size which keeps them airborne for an extended period of time. They can thus spread over a large area, according to wind direction. DU dust is black and a target that has been hit by DU ammunition can often be recognised by the black dust cover in and around it. DU dust can be dispersed into the environment and contaminate the air and the ground. The deposit on the ground and other surfaces consists of pieces of the metal, fine fragments, and if the DU has caught fire, oxides of uranium. Most contamination from DU hits on armoured vehicles is limited to within about 100 metres of the target. Normally 10-35% (and a maximum of 70%) of the ammunition becomes an aerosol on impact.

Most of the penetrators that impact soft ground (e.g., sand or clay), remain intact and lie buried at a depth of about 50 cm there for a long time. Penetrators that hit armoured vehicles form an aerosol upon impact or ricochet. Bigger fragments and pieces remain intact on the ground surface, while fine fragments and dust are transported down the upper soil layer by water and soil organism. Some of the fine dust adsorbs onto soil particles, while some may be redistributed by wind and rainwater.7

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.