It seems that the United States will also transfer depleted uranium ammunition and not only for Abrams tanks
New US aid package includes 120mm tank ammunition from the armed forces’ own stockpiles
The new $2.6 billion aid package from the United States includes a wide variety of ammunition, ranging from mortar shells and 122mm shells to anti-aircraft missiles for the Patriot.
But this list also includes 120-mm tank ammunition, which, according to the Pentagon at a traditional media briefing, will be used not only for American Abrams but also for other tanks provided by the allies. That is, for the Leopard 2, which is compatible with Abrams in terms of ammunition.
At the same time, the supply of tank ammunition from the United States strongly suggests that these will be depleted uranium shells, as they are allocated under the Presidential Drawdown program. That is, directly from the US Army’s stockpile, and the standard armor-piercing sub-caliber ammunition for Abrams is the M829 projectile, which uses depleted uranium. In particular, the modern versions of these munitions are M829A3 and M829A4.
The A3 version of the projectile was created in the early 2000s in view of the emergence of a new generation of dynamic defense in the Russian Federation, the Kontakt-5. The M829A3 penetrator, weighing 10 kg, consists of a 10 cm long steel front and 70 cm of depleted uranium, its diameter is 3 mm larger than previous versions of the projectile and is 25 mm. Accelerated to 1.55 km/s, this projectile is guaranteed to penetrate the frontal armor of Russian modernized tanks at all realistic battle ranges.
The M829A4, which has been in production since 2015, according to available information, has not received significant design changes to the penetrator itself, and the innovations have affected the casing.
At the same time, it is worth noting that in addition to armor-piercing ammunition, Abrams tanks also have other ammunition, such as the M830 cumulative, the M830A1 multipurpose programmable fuze, and the M1028 buckshot, which is essential for fighting enemy manpower.
Each of these shells contains more than 1,000 tungsten elements, which are also effective against manpower in shelters and light armored vehicles.
