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@terrybeasley2626

2 ай бұрын

Do a story on the 3rd wave high school experiment history.

@NightridingDoom

2 ай бұрын

Whoever wrote the script should really learn what uranium isotopes are. Depleted uranium isotopes are extremly radioactive. Even worse, it is an extremly dense heavy metal. www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=Side+effects+of+depleted+uranium+exposure A simple google search proves this video wrong.

@Fenrir.Gleipnir

2 ай бұрын

In breeding are norm in Middle East and it’s a main aspect why they are sick

@svenhoff2653

2 ай бұрын

If the general population would know how much Uranium is spread out on the fields where their food is grown, they would flip out. Simply google Uranium in phosphate fertilizer.

@justinlloyd6455

2 ай бұрын

Nice whitewash video on DU. 👎 The title should be "DU For Normies". With the closing lines: "Nothing to see here. Go back to sleep." I've been following and reading about DU for 20 years. For those of you who want to learn of the death and horror caused by DU, I recommend 2 documentaries to get started: "The Doctor, the Depleted Uranium and The Dying Children." And "Beyond Treason". Also, contrary to every science book and website: alpha particles are *not* stopped by a sheet of paper. This is proven false by an alpha cloud chamber experiment on KZread, where the content creator discovers that chicken skin over an alpha emitter, still emits alpha particles into the air. But then again, don't listen to me, I don't have 3.14 million KZread subscribers. I am just some guy in the comment section. What do I know? I have given up on trying to reason with people with facts and evidence.

"Your heavy metal poisoning and radiation sickness is not service related" The VA

@davidelkins3229

2 ай бұрын

Agent orange was safe when it was first used.

@zanderzephyrlistens

2 ай бұрын

​@@davidelkins3229wtf did you just say to the world 😂

@blairpenny1526

Ай бұрын

Quack bang out

@springbloom5940

Ай бұрын

Thats what they told us after Desert Storm

@lukegardner6917

Ай бұрын

There was a doc about du called beyond treason. Same schtick

The fact that DU is a heavy metal far outweighs the residual radiation it emits. Heavy metal poisoning is the true danger. Unless of course you happen to be in the vehicle it impacts.

@TotensBurntCorpse

2 ай бұрын

DU rounds as they penetrate armor layers is "self sharpening" --- have watched a few videos about this and its counter intuitive but it is true. In ww2 since U wasnt in common use (aka none for most part) they tried to use wolfram aka tungsten as the penetrators.

@nimbusentry7093

2 ай бұрын

As purely a guess, I'd bet that the cause of many of these health effects comes from the common military practice of burn pits for waste disposal

@TotensBurntCorpse

2 ай бұрын

@@nimbusentry7093 its also a claim that they were exposed to chemical agents from the iraqis

@sgt_loeram1933

2 ай бұрын

@@nimbusentry7093Your guess is closer to the true than you think sir. As a former Abrams tanker who served in Iraq in 2004 those damn burn pits were far more toxic than any DU that sat behind me for months

@pyroglyphics

2 ай бұрын

In the impacted vehicle you would still get the heavy metal poisoning, only it would be quite accute and instant😅

I was exposed to depleted uranium during the First Gulf War. My battalion's tent city was about 200 meters downwind from the ammunition dump for the airbase where we were stationed. I have many of the symptoms associated with DU: weakened soft tissue, weakened bone density, and other symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome. I have been wearing dentures since I was 32, and tooth loss is common among Gulf War veterans. I am part of a long-term study by the Veterans Administration. These symptoms may be complicated by the injuries I had during my service in many areas of the world, especially when I was with XVIII Airborne Corps. I am also part of a study by the VA into long-term effects of concussion, for example. There are other potential causes of Gulf War Syndrome including the PB pills we were required to take, and the "pudding shots" that we received before deployment. In both cases, some received the real deal while others received a placebo. The soldiers of the Gulf War were not only fighting a war, we were test subjects without knowing it. There are still no definitive results from any of the studies into the reason why so many Gulf War veterans are sick, but the studies continue, and the answers may not come until after my death. My father died of a disease caused by Agent Orange, but that was not acknowledged until ten years after his death at the age of 49. I always wonder what my kids will learn ten years after my demise.

@spartancrown

2 ай бұрын

My uncle also suffered from agent orange. You are appreciated.

@Buconoir

2 ай бұрын

Just got my 80% disability rating and finally went through the screening. Right there with ya!

@seantlewis376

2 ай бұрын

@@Buconoir Thanks, Buddy.

@tomcleverley18

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for your service and sacrifice. We wish the government took as good care of our veterans as the do the politicians.

@carpetlayenful

2 ай бұрын

Studies, in reference to the video, like these seem to me like a way to get ahead of information. That seems to follow in the future. Subverting information always seems to be followed by a long study pointing in opposition.

FYI, the image thrown up at 2:19 is a belt of inert training rounds, not DU tipped projectiles. Any time you see that bright blue color, it's inert training ammo.

@Tatsitimdead

2 ай бұрын

I'll throw on a little additional info/context for any that need/want it, they are inert in the fact that aren't explosive, armor piercing or incendiary and are used in training because it's more cost effective... In cases of the 25mm training rounds, the round is still a live round that will fire out of the gun, just without the Explosive or Incendiary effect on target. Same with the 5" "training" projectile which is loaded separate from the powder charge.

@InitialFailure

2 ай бұрын

Blue doesn't necessarily mean fully inert. In this case it does however this is not a hard/fast rule for all ordnance. If you didn't put it there and it looks like ord, call EOD/law enforcement.

@baplotnik

2 ай бұрын

that's funny as shit, I don't find this video useful at all. I could just google that depleted uranium is called LEAD in less than a half a microsecond, also, it releases it's energy directly upon impact which is the whole point of it. much like a moab rod. oh sorry were you busy for the next 15 minutes of this video?

@jefffuhr2393

2 ай бұрын

​@@baplotnik Hi Nik. Waste of 15 minutes? Yep! Except that Simon Whistler is entertaining, which **is** mostly the point of his videos. So... there's that! 😆As you undoubtedly know, Lead (Pb) and Uranium (U) are chemically and elementally two DIFFERENT substances. Lead flattens and expands upon impact whereas uranium fractures into self-sharpening shards while maintaining its overall projectile shape (especially when alloyed with Titanium as explained in the video). Therefore totally different from each other--except that they both are heavy metals (duh) and both used in ammunition--albeit lead is commonly used and uranium much less commonly and only for special purposes.

@ericbunker6242

Ай бұрын

​@@baplotnikDU is more dense than lead. Take 5 more seconds on that search.

"Depleted" in the context of uranium refers to its radioactivity, which is minimal. The real hazard from use of depleted uranium munitions is the resultant toxicity due to heavy metal contamination.

@JohnSmith-cn4cw

2 ай бұрын

Exactly, the scare tactics about a radiation level less than naturally occurring uranium it part of the reason that we won't be able to both produce energy and deal with climate change anytime in the near future.

@gtaclevelandcity

2 ай бұрын

Heavy metal contamination is a major problem with literally any metals used for projectiles, DU, tungsten, lead, copper, brass, etc. In fact lead is probably much more of a risk given how much of it can be used in war relative to DU ammunition.

@dietmarnieder9834

2 ай бұрын

Depletion does not reduce the radioactivity significantly! Only the fissible U-235 is enriched for NPP usage or military abuse. The danger for people when ingested or inhaled or via injuries remains huge. I'm educated in radiation protection, so I know what I say.

@roycavitt4544

2 ай бұрын

Lead, Tungsten, Depleted Uranium, bullets are toxic whatever they are made off,, !

@howard6433

2 ай бұрын

Didn't the video present data which showed no additional toxicity from its use and exposure?

From what I learned in my ballistics class for my gunsmithing program. With bullets, there's something called Sectional Density. It's essentially how dense the bullet is in relation to its diameter. It's the one factor that absolutely dictates how good a bullet is at penetration or perforation. Depleted Uranium is the heaviest natural element. This makes it perfect for rounds that need to punch through armor. Form factor is big part of Ballistics Coefficients: Sectional Density/ form factor = BC. The higher the BC, the better the bullet is at overcoming air resistance. Not only that, but higher BC bullets perform better at long distance, they tend to maintain momentum at longer ranges, too.

@TotensBurntCorpse

2 ай бұрын

its also how U falls apart as the leading edge of the penetrator ablates, it shears away leaving a point as the length of the penetrator dwindles... KE = 1/2 MV^2.... as you lose mass but keep the velocity up the KE stays higher than keeping all the mass...

@PLD0VR

2 ай бұрын

Tungsten is more dense than DU

@gavinkemp7920

2 ай бұрын

You are confusing density and molecular weight. Yes uranium is the heaviest but is one factor that affect weight density the other being how tightly the atoms can be packed. In fact the video cited 7 denser element including tungsten. The big advantage that DU would bring over tungsten if the self sharpening effect and its relative cheapeness, since DU is a waste product with only few current industrial and commercial applications, it is dirt cheap, cheaper than uranium ore and much cheaper than tungsten.

@marcush4741

2 ай бұрын

Please nite, I'm NOT an expert and am only dtating my understanding because Im genuinely interested in understanding where I'm misinformed. Doesnt hardness and velocity play a significant role in penetration? As an example, lead is dense... but it is also soft. Copper is (proportionally) light and hard. In my reloading experience (NOT expert), solid copper bullets seem to move significantly faster, and penetrate significantly farther than lead. Am I misunderstanding a mechanism of penetration that's causing me to use my experience as flawed confirmation bias? (I promise, Im genuinely asking)

@user-sh8cl3it2m

2 ай бұрын

​@@marcush4741You are partly correct. Hardness helps but solid copper bullets, like steel shot for shotguns, is also much lighter than lead. This lighter weight causes the round to lose energy much faster than a heavier bullet would as it passes through an object (known as "momentum loss" in ballistic terms). Thus, heavier lead bullets will often penetrate farther than lighter copper bullets in gel or other ballistic mediums at the same velocity.

Just to point out, Gulf War Syndrome was not solely blamed on DU, it was naps tablets and the cocktail of drugs given to the soldiers, a short term affect to keep the soldiers fighting, which then led to some of the soldiers having long term effects, to I will add a Army Medical Advisor said "Don't plan on having any more kids" That and the fact that two babies within out Regiment were born disabled in the year that followed.

@rock0122

2 ай бұрын

I was in the first Gulf War, (UK) We were given a cocktail of injections just before the start, and a vast majority of our squadron was then sick for a few days making them Not Combat fit. When I later retired from the military we could demand a copy of our Medical Documents to pass on to our civilian doctors of any injections, medical ailments Etc. The section in my records that covered Late 90 - 92 was missing, basically, the pages were removed with a discrepancy in Page numbers.

@MrBlackfalconuk

2 ай бұрын

@@rock0122Sorry to hear that fella, I served with 4 Regt AAC and the same thing happened when we recieved our injections and when I firts retired (as I rejoined) my docs were altered.

@slickjim861

2 ай бұрын

i served in Iraq the 2nd time and had several friends and knew several ppl that had very bad reactions similar if not the exact same depending on the persons. Im not saying that it was a large number, but a minority of soldiers are still having similar symptoms to this day during deployments. I currently have friends who have had severe reactions to them causing the immune systems to completely shut down. Of course lawsuits have been filed and the courts are pushing everything out till my fiends die. @@rock0122

@stefisha

2 ай бұрын

you got any aditional information on that?

@MrBlackfalconuk

2 ай бұрын

@@stefishawhat do you wanna know?

Uranium exhibits higher performance as a kinetic energy penetrator than tungsten alloys because it exhibits greater strain hardening, and so the adiabatic shear bands form closer to penetrator/target interface, causing a uranium penetrator to "self-sharpen" to a greater degree than tungsten, mushrooming less, and preserving a lower frontal cross section during penetration.

@LaHayeSaint

2 ай бұрын

Evan -- Are you saying that uranium is harder than tungsten?

@Evan_Bell

2 ай бұрын

@@LaHayeSaint No, it's not harder. If I wanted to say that it's harder, I'd have said that.

@LaHayeSaint

2 ай бұрын

@@Evan_Bell Evan -- Could you say then as the round penetrates the armour, it is tempered from the heat and kinetic energy, to make it harder. Does the steel of the tank breach temporarily melt to form a ferro-uranium alloy on penetration? I'm not a metallurgist, so please bear with me!

@Evan_Bell

2 ай бұрын

@@LaHayeSaint No, it's not tempering. It's work hardening. No, the penetrator and armour do not melt.

@HiddenOcelot

Ай бұрын

​@@LaHayeSaintwhat more or less is happening as it penetrates the armor is that is sheers close to where the strain of the penetration happens (closer to the point), causing it to become sharp again, instead of say, peeling back and curling outwards. This is what gives it its generating power.

As to your closing statement, I can't think of a single round I would want to be on the receiving end of.

@NemoGraynameA8

2 ай бұрын

How about a free round at a bar?

@SilverionX

2 ай бұрын

A merry-go-round?

@Vypren

2 ай бұрын

Or a round of applause?

@laurencewinch-furness9450

2 ай бұрын

If you had a really bad day...

@jamesonmiller8283

2 ай бұрын

Given the low "hit rate" quoted earlier against a tank, you probably get little benefit from ducking/hitting the deck.

I was an infantry soldier in Somalia in 93. We stayed at places that had lots of depleted and expired ammunition. Old Soviet supply dumps, etc. Overtime EOD gathered up over 40 tons of it and blew it up (what a sight). But now, 30 years later at least 10 of us are already gone (before the age of 50) and most of us have respiratory issues. This is a company I’m talking about. It does seem quite high and we were given enormous amounts of inoculations prior to every deployment and we had to take mefloquine tablets which give you the worst headache and I think were eventually banned. So, don’t become a soldier if you wanna live long.

@tvtothepoint

10 күн бұрын

Not to mention it's almost a prerequisite for most deployments than you smoke at least a pack and a half of cigarettes, and drink massive amounts of caffeine, in any form you can obtain. There's no such thing as a "healthy" MRE either. They are calorie dense sustenance meant to keep soldiers going for the next bit of adrenaline rushed action. In conclusion, anyone who signs on the dotted line and raises their hand for the pledge is acknowledging that they have given both their physical and mental selves over to the whims of those in control of those who ultimately order their lessers into harms way. The fact that you thrived, survived and returned to civilian life is a testament to your training, your personal attention to your safety, and your willingness to do what it takes to get back to those who are dependent on you and others like yourself. Good job, soldier! P. S. I also got that whole "overseas package" of injections, and also suffer from COPD, hearing loss, and have been a (upper) denture wearer for over 15 years.

My friend did 2 tours in Iraq. He said they were all prohibited from approaching wreckage destroyed by DU ammo. The worst risk cited was its toxicity after fragmentation to dust level. What sandstorms taken from outside was one thing, but a lot of it remained in destroyed interiors, often baked in by fire. The biggest problem were locals, who were swarming battlefields to harvest metals from wreckage. It was impossible to change their minds by explaining what they are facing, so they resorted to telling locals the battle sites are haunted. Iraq has zero healthcare infrastructure in many of its regions, and in the end, even if half of the local population died of cancer suddenly... no one would notice. Or, in many cases, no one would want to notice.

A note on pyrophoria - it isn't just in powder form that it burns, high amounts of friction will also cause uranium to start burning. Going through hardened armor means you're going to be facing a lot of friction.

Fun fact, early Boeing 747s had DU counterweights and you can still own an unlimited amount of DU in Canada without a licence as long as it is used as aircraft counterweights.

@sillysad3198

2 ай бұрын

i wouldn't touch it for the same reason i avoid Cadmium.

@joschafinger126

2 ай бұрын

In that function, it's pretty inoffensive, though touching it may be a bad idea. You can stop alpha particles with a sheet of paper, yet ingested or breathed in they can wreak havoc.

@Takyodor2

2 ай бұрын

@@sillysad3198It really isn't that radioactive (billions of years of half-life!), as long as you don't get it inside your body (it is a heavy metal after all) you won't have any problems.

@eviljagtech

2 ай бұрын

@@sillysad3198 Is as safe as Lead to handle and the PPE for both is the same.

@user-kc5cs9yk1c

2 ай бұрын

​@@sillysad3198Cadmium from tire wear is why people in the know don't forage roadside mushrooms and berries.

Watched a video on this last night. They're called DUDs. In the 1970's they manufactured 7.62 rifle rounds as a experimental trial. They are extremely effective for going through body armour. Tungsten rifle rounds are 2nd best. They are extremely hard to source due to the limited amount made. Fun fact in the 1970's some were accidentally sent to police stations mixed in with their standard ammunition deliveries

@dianapennepacker6854

2 ай бұрын

DU is cheaper though then Tungsten? That is weird that is harder to source.

@Shadow-bk1im

2 ай бұрын

@@dianapennepacker6854 tungsten is quite rare while depleted uranium i believe is the byproduct you get when you enrich uranium that I believe wouldn't have many uses otherwise.

@jazztheglass6139

2 ай бұрын

@@dianapennepacker6854 I think it is due to the manufacturing process for the round. It catches fire on contact going through plated armour. Must be complicated to form into a precise shape. Plus you've got the waste products from production, has to be done in a safe environment, then legally disposed off. Their's added complication of the rifle rounds falling into a federal category due to being classed as nuclear material. Its crazy to think that some was accidently sent to police stations with their usual ammunition supplies. If you look on KZread for DUDS 7.62 rifle rounds, you will see the same video

@missano3856

2 ай бұрын

@@Shadow-bk1im It could ultimately be used in a nuclear fuel cycle.

@herauthon

2 ай бұрын

i thought it was/is DUP ?

Minor quibble for your Editor: any ammo with blue-tips are inert training rounds. No DU, no explosives, they are used mostly due to lower costs. Some practice ranges are smaller than the maximum range of live ammo...training ammo is often loaded for shorter ranges.

@tango_uniform

2 ай бұрын

Likewise with BDU-33. Training round painted blue, same aerodynamics as a Mk82 and emits a puff of smoke to signify where it hits. AIM-9 has a blue version too.

@billyo.9969

20 күн бұрын

Minor quibble for you pirobot. There are several rounds that have a blue tip that are NOT inert. The U.S. Military has been making BLUE TIPPED "Incendiary" rounds since WW2. They range in size from rifle bullets up to cannon rounds. Before trying to correct someone else, make sure YOU are correct! I understand that your small knowledge was meant to imply that most inert training devices are painted blue. Just be careful of the information you are putting out. Someone with as little knowledge could end up hurting themselves or others. Thanks for being observant though.

@xuser48

14 күн бұрын

You mean "any ammo with a blue round" as blue tips are incendiaries.

I was a crewmember on a Bradley. We never used them. If we ever needed to deal with an armored vehicle, we had the TOW missile. It was expensive, not as effective as the TOW, no one wanted to handle them, no one wanted to deal with the paperwork and transporting it, no one wanted to deal with clean up of the fired rounds (at a range, a battlefield, or a destroyed vehicle), and no one wanted to deal with any rounds not used (we would just shoot off unused regular rounds because turning it in was a headache, a DU round would be over 10 times more annoying).

@Genesh12

2 ай бұрын

WHAT KIND OF PAPERWORK DID YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH BECAUSE OF THIS TYPE OF AMMUNITION?

@natsune09

2 ай бұрын

@@Genesh12 I never had to deal with it, but the military loves it paperwork. So I can't even begin to give an exact amount of forms that needed to be signed. Here is an example. We were given Kevlar vests and had to sign for that, later they gave us SAPI plates (Small Arms Protective Inserts) for those vests, so we had paper work for that. A bunch of paperwork just for one item really. The Supply sergeant had to deal with their own paperwork for those vests. So for DU rounds there would be paper work for them as ammunition in general for the supply sergeant, the First sergeant, and the captain. The people running the range would have their paperwork, and anyone who would handle them. There would be classes about them being DU, safety, clean up, and so on. That would cascade down to everyone already mentioned. The individual crews would get paperwork when getting issued the rounds, to show they had their classes on the DU safety, handling, and cleanup. There would be paper work on where the rounds would be used and showing where they were cleaned up. The Company/Troop/Battery CBRN and medic would have their onslaught of paperwork for their roles. When we went to the range, even for our rifles, and we didn't use all the rounds issued to the unit, we would fire them off because trying to return a box of ammunition that had some remaining was such a pain for the officers, they would tell us to just use them up. Even if we cracked open a crate and never used a single rounds from them. Once that seal is broken, the paperwork monster would appear. If you ever has watched the movie 'Brazil' and the comedic look at bureaucracy and forms in the movie, that would what the paperwork would be like.

@Mortlupo

2 ай бұрын

It is used on the Abrams A1 Tank and the A-10.

@Joker-no1fz

2 ай бұрын

@@Mortlupo bro the bradely has an auto canon.

@natsune09

2 ай бұрын

@@MortlupoGo to the 3 minute 49 second mark of the video. Tell me what it says from that point to 3 minutes 57 seconds.

Depleted Uranium was also used used as counterweights on aircraft control surfaces. I've handled it a few times and was amazed by the weight of it. We swapped out the counterweights back in the mid-nineties to tungsten weights.

@johnnyllooddte3415

2 ай бұрын

see your doctor soon

@jasonlib1996

2 ай бұрын

@@johnnyllooddte3415 Why? It's literally less radioactive than the uranium in the ground. DU has a radioactivity of 2.5mSv. Do remember you are bombarded with radiation every single day. normally at a rate of 0.2mSv from the earth, sun, and everything around you. a long-haul flight, due to the altitude and reduced atmosphere can hit 3mSv, yet you don't see pilots all running to their doctors for radiation? and they spend their careers at these radiation levels. Meanwhile, a CT scan ranges from 2-30mSv yet you'll happily lay on a CT scanner if needed without question of the radiation dose. Radiation is this boogeyman that a lot of people don't understand as so fear unnecessarily because they cant see it. Meanwhile in reality we know what is and isn't safe in regards to radiation and it's not as dangerous as many people like to think.

@PneumaticFrog

2 ай бұрын

Man the alpha radiation isnt even gonna go through ur skin bro​@@johnnyllooddte3415

@FalconX88

2 ай бұрын

Why is this comment section full of comments stating stuff that was mentioned in the video as if it's new information. He said it was used as weights in fixed wing aircraft.

@raptorhacker599

2 ай бұрын

@@FalconX88oh damn did he also talk about the density and self-sharpening aspects? reading the comments I thought he didnt talk about those.

As a nurse who used to care for nuclear workers and uranium minders/ millers/ haulers, and treating their cancers, i don't believe a word of that CDC report. I've seen too much

The far superior penetrating power of depleted uranium compared to tungsten is well documented. US and British tankers carry DU 120mm penetrators. We also have 25mm and .50 caliber DU, but those were less used after the initial combat in the Second Gulf War. The Warthog used 30mm DU. We use it for a reason (better than tungsten), despite the risk. Depleted doesn't mean "not radioactive" or "safe," it just means not hot enough to be fissile or weapons grade.

@leow.2162

2 ай бұрын

Nah, depleted means it's not financially viable to further seperate more and less radioactive isotopes. I don't know much about combat effectiveness, I think it's just a way for the US to get rid off nuclear waste. It has to be very cheap to buy bc if nobody buys it, it will have to be stored, you can't just throw it away. Unless you do the throwing with guns.

I will not engage in a debate on the effects some people have attributed to DU. I will simply state the facts. 1. DU is less radioactive than naturally occurring uranium ore. 2. The DU penetrator is encased in a steel body which reduces both radioactivity and heavy metal toxicity. In the case of the ammo for the GAU-8, it is an aluminum windscreen. Unless the outer shell is cracked, the DU is not exposed. The APDSFS long rod penetrator is buried in the aluminum or steel cartridge casing, with less than 20% of the steel encased point exposed, further insulating the DU. You cannot get heavy metal toxicity or radioactive damage from a properly handled round. 3. M829A1 APDSFS rounds are packed in shipping cases which further insulated the DU from the environment. There was no possible way for DU rounds in shipping containers to contaminate air, water or earth. Being downwind, upwind, where ever meant nothing as far as any contamination. 4. The possible contamination of Coalition personnel would have been from exploring Iraqi AFVs or friendly AFVs with heavy armor after they were penetrated by DU ammo. The DU penetrators shed incandescent shards as it passes through armor. Note the armor has to be thick enough to resist penetration and the penetration has to be into the crew compartment. In almost all cases, M829A1 rounds passing through light armor were not subjected to sufficient resistance to shed shards. Ammo from the GAU-8 that penetrated hull or turret roof armor or the light armor of APCs and such, did leave some residue. 5. This residue inside damaged or destroyed AFVs that did not blow up was DU heavy metal and toxic. Recovery personnel were to wear breathing protection and wear gloves when recovering such AFVs, This was the point of highest risk for Coalition personnel. Destroyed Iraqi, Kuwaiti and Coalition AFVs were towed to an area across the road from Ali al Salim AFB and the area placed off limits. 6. Blue painted target practice rounds do not have DU. US DU AP rounds are silver in color from the surrounding steel encasing the DU. (Thus the "Silver Bullet" for the M829A1). At the very least, the British, Russian, US and other armies continue to use DU cored AP rounds.

@Hybris51129

2 ай бұрын

Finally some facts in a utter sea of bullshit misinformation.

@MrMagnaniman

2 ай бұрын

You forgot to mention that those rounds are propelled through the air by explosive force, accelerated to thousands of feet per second in a fraction of a second, and then slammed into something extremely hard, almost universally causing the round to fragment, powderize, and even ignite. Whether or not DU causes all of the effects that have been attributed to it, it is clear that the objectivity of those deciding whether or not it should be use is compromised. There are massive conflicts of interest for those studying its effects, manufacturing projectiles from it, and making military purchasing decisions.

@jvigil2007

Ай бұрын

Don't let facts get in the way of hysteria

@marioncharleston

3 күн бұрын

Are ppl with gulf war syndrome making it up or imagining it?i could see why u dont want to explain to us lesser plebs!a case of I'll tell u my opinion but im not interested in ur answer?

I was an environmental engineer, and at 3:10 I heard a common logic process among humans. The government has to stockpile the uranium (? because it's bad ?) so one way to reduce this stockpile is to spread it all over the place... such as use the military to scatter it over the Earth (???) -- I want to believe Simon didn't quite mean that the way it sounded. (I certainly listened to that part over & over enough.)

I wondered this same thing, so I called a PhD Chem friend of mine that had written a number of papers on his specialty, metallurgy. Depleted Uranium is ~70% heavier than lead, and as hard as steel. So it is a perfect armor piercing material.

I found your narrative much more understandable at a 75% playback audio setting. You are a VERY FAST speaker! This was a very interesting video.

@alexanderovercash315

2 ай бұрын

Great recommendation! Pardon the pun but it helped me with the dense information presented.

@leonmusk1040

2 ай бұрын

lol I'm from New Zealand we often play American content at 1.25

@SimonBrisbane

2 ай бұрын

I play most youtube videos at 1.25x or 1.5. You're absolutely correct about this guy, he speaks too fast given the subject matter is fact heavy.

If I put a ton of depleted uranium in my basement, it wouldn't increase the radioactivity. The radon leeching out of the ground and settling down there is far more radioactive. I certainly wouldn't recommend snorting a line of depleted uranium dust though. I wouldn't recommend inhaling dust of any heavy metal, they're all toxic.

@mikebryant614

Күн бұрын

Thats what i think all of these DU apologists are missing - it isnt the radioactivity thats deadly so much as the vaporized heavy metals fumes being inhaled. All heavy metals are carcinogenic ,and inhaling them into your lungs is arguably the worst way to be exposed to them .

I was in the US Navy for 11 years and one day I was on the 0-4 level on the ship and the GMs were doing maintenance on the CIWS (close in weapons system). They offered to let me hold just one shell and I was absolutely unprepared for just how heavy uranium is. It feels at least 3 times heavier than iron. Given that CIWS can fire 6000 rounds a minute, any missile successfully hit by CIWS literally gets shredded within a mile of the ship.

Regardless on how much DU actually contributed to the health problems talked about in the video, this is a solid example of why correlation doesn't automatically equate to causation. Always good to fully investigate something scientifically and explore all possible causes.

People tend to fear the things they don't understand. Depleted uranium is relatively harmless but most folks will never understand or believe it (for example, the slight bit of alpha radiation emitted by DU can't even pass through a single sheet of paper). There are hundreds of things on a battlefield more worrying than the kind of rounds the enemy is using.

@aidenpearce5275

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, the biggest advantage is that it's cheap, it's dense and it's self-sharpening instead of mushrooming and deforming Lead poisoning is actually more dangerous than the radioactive from DU too

@charliefoxtrot5001

2 ай бұрын

@@aidenpearce5275 FYI: The Potassium in a banana is almost 4 times more radioactive than DU and emits the more harmful beta and gamma radiation.

Seems that I've been misled over the years, so a big Thank You for correcting me. I spent some time in the Royal Artillery, but my primary weapon wasn't a gun that fired shells, it was a surface to air missile. I was always under the impression that when Uranium 238 decays, it becomes Lead 206 (It does.....This is correct). What I was wrong about, is that I'd assumed that depleted Uranium was uranium which had decayed / been used as a radiation source to the point where it had become Lead 206, therefore essentially DU artillery / cannon shells were essentially mainly just lead with a small portion of U 238. NOW I understand what all the fuss is about!

i have not once ever seen him whistle

@carlrichards5207

2 ай бұрын

Have you seen the painting of his mother?

@TodayIFoundOut

2 ай бұрын

If you become a Patron and scroll back a long ways, there is a video of baby Simon whistling. :-) -Daven

@anonymlulz8273

2 ай бұрын

ya bro pay money to see him whistle. Go on.

@Sk1m_Beeble

2 ай бұрын

What? He sometimes whistles a tad when saying his own name lol

@davidwood9966

2 ай бұрын

@@Sk1m_Beeble Simon Sibilance, there's heaps of it in this vid.

U238 is used a radiation shielding, normally as an alloy. Despite having slight radioactive it’s self the high density, and heavy mass of the isotopes vastly out weigh its ability to stop much stronger radiation then the little it give off its self.

My friend Chris Williams was a tank commander during Gulf 1. He never smoked, drank, and his job was not around any cancer causing materials . He developed lung cancer a few years after he came home. He had surgery and other treatments and was cancer free for several years. It returned a second time and took away one of the finest men I ever knew. He told me on several occasions how they drove through smoke from burning vehicles and how common this was for armor as well as infantry. He was certain the DU is what caused his cancer.

@mikebryant614

Күн бұрын

Depleted Uranium isnt all that radioactive, but it is one of the densest heavy metals, and all heavy metals are extremely toxic carcinogens that have been shown repeatedly to cause cancer. Inhaling vaporized heavy metals is one of the worst ways to be exposed to them simply due to how the lungs work, and how they are made . It is entirely plausible that inhaling DU caused his cancer, not via the radioactivity, but due to it being a carcinogenic heavy metal , regardless of its active radioactivity.There are heavy metals that are not radioactive at all - But they are still deadly carcinogens that can certainly cause cancer and other life threatening issues if ingested / inhaled.

More than 300 Italian veterans who developed cancer after being exposed to depleted uranium ammunition have won court cases against Italy’s military. Some of the cases were brought by their bereaved relatives. The judgments have mounted in recent years, with Italian courts repeatedly finding a link between cancer and service in the Balkans where such weapons were fired. Although Italy does not have depleted uranium weapons in its own arsenal, Italian police and soldiers were deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo where NATO allies fired the controversial ammunition in the 1990s.

Radiation tends to be understood backwards by most people. Uranium isn't in fact particularly radioactive as far as such things go. It breaks down naturally extremely slowly which is where the radiation comes from for the most part. Its still hot, don't get me wrong, but that's a function of scale and mass more than anything. By and large the *shorter* the half life the more radioactive a material is, as it breaks down more often and consequently produces radiation at a higher rate. This is why uranium miners get radiation damage not from uranium with a 4 billion year half life but from one of its decay products, radium at 1600 years and one of its decay products radon at 4 days This is also why a cobalt salted bomb concept would work. Even though the direct explosive yield would be relatively small, the mini nuke would convert the cobalt[59] in to cobalt[60] that puts out enough radiation to kill *any* living thing ...but 20 years after the explosion the region would be about as radioactive as the down wind side of a coal plant

@missano3856

2 ай бұрын

Thank you, I facepalm every time people seem to imply that a long half-life makes an isotope more dangerous.

@dietmarnieder9834

2 ай бұрын

The issue with the Radon is true, but all other things you describe are beyond reality. Should give you a couple of lessons about radio chemistry and radiation protection. Would take some hours...

@coolphoton1234

2 ай бұрын

@@dietmarnieder9834 A quick google of cobalt salted bombs will return multiple scientific papers and articles on both salted bombs and cobalt bombs in particular. As to the other part of what I said, that's exactly how radioactive decay and half lives work. A half life is how long it takes a given mass of a radioactive element to decay and reduce its mass of that element by half. Radioactive decay is the decay of heavier elements in to lighter ones, with a byproduct of ionizing radiation. The faster a kilo of an element reduces to 0.5 kilo the more often it is putting out radiation. in particular, U238, the primary isotope in DU has a half life of 4.5 billion years and puts out radiation almost exclusively in the alpha band which is why it is used to contain much more dangerous radioactive elements..like cobalt[60] which has a half life of a little over 5 years and puts out high quantities of gamma radiation.

@alaindao7374

2 ай бұрын

@@dietmarnieder9834 Please detail what he got wrong. It's not much use for anyone to say he is wrong and then not explain what he got wrong.

@montypython5521

Ай бұрын

@@dietmarnieder9834 Give me the tldr

Don’t know about those other countries but I would guess a lot of the health effects in Iraq and Kuwait could be caused by the deliberate igniting of the oil fields by the Iraq regime. Burning millions of gallons of raw crude oil is going to cause some serious health effects.

@AaronLitz

2 ай бұрын

The uneducated general public has a very bad tendency to casually dismiss the very well-known carcinogenic effects of things that seem normal to us, like burning fossil fuels, while just assuming that _every damn thing_ with _any_ kind of connection to that scary "nuclear" stuff will cause cancer just by looking at it for a few seconds. Plus they don't seem to understand that all of this stuff is naturally occurring and _comes from inside the Earth_ and isn't magically created in a lab out of "chemicals" (of course, these are the kind of people who don't actually understand what "chemicals" are, think that they are all glowing green goo created in test tubes, and will get violently angry at you if you try to explain to them that everything they eat or drink or _breathe_ is made of "chemicals.") This is why the idiotic Anti-Nuclear Movement exists and has caused so many nuclear power plants to either be shut down or never built, and instead lead to even more fossil fuels power plants to be built, which cause _so damn much_ more cancer and environmental problems than clean nuclear plants ever would. The Anti-Nuclear Movement has caused so much death and environmental destruction across the planet that it could be accused of war crimes.

@nimbusentry7093

2 ай бұрын

That and the burn pits commonly used for waste disposal during military operations

@ryanadshead4809

2 ай бұрын

Saddam Huiesan reportedly used chemical weapons within Iraq, but not during the gulf war as far as I'm aware of.

@Elyseon

2 ай бұрын

Dubya lied about those WMDs. Iraq 2 was all about oil and filling the pockets of his buddies.

@PneumaticFrog

2 ай бұрын

​@ryanadshead4809 wouldn't surprise me if the chemicals were still in the dirt thus being kicked up by the time the gulf war came around

DU has the nice effect of setting things on fire when it hits them - not only from the kinetic energy it releases, but also the chemical reaction when it impacts something solid.

What's the very best to you? Your family in your staff keep up the good work. Really appreciate it, great videos.

It's not wearing out the gun that A-10 pilots are actually worried about. Its the fact that continuously firing the gun stalls the aircraft.

@Spaceballerr

2 ай бұрын

A-10s were designed around the GAU so they wouldn’t stall from firing. You might be confused with Soviet aircraft.

@somethinburnin

2 ай бұрын

​@@Spaceballerr in theory the GAU-8 Avenger creates enough recoil, it could theoretically stall the aircraft. But, it was also noted the firing rate required would possibly melt the barrels before that moment. Obviously they never tried the theory

@ianbelletti6241

2 ай бұрын

@@Spaceballerr I've always heard that continuous fire causes it to stall. The gun doesn't stall it when they burst fire the gun but it does stall under continuous fire. They didn't worry about continuous fire because the A-10 shouldn't be on target more than a few seconds anyway.

@JayWye52

2 ай бұрын

DU rounds have an aluminum jacket to prevent barrel wear,because the DU is hard and won't engage the barrel rifling.

@criticaljacques2237

2 ай бұрын

​@@ianbelletti6241 Why would an aircraft's gunfire rate have anything to do with the aircraft stalling?

It is important to note that the M242 Bushmaster 25mm is in the same velocity class as the M1A3 Tank's main gun and none of the other 20 and 30mm weapons can match its 1400m/s muzzle with sabot darts. There is a legit copy of it that fires the same ammunition with slightly higher feed reliability but nothing else can keep up with it short of the old 20mm recoilless rifle from some guy named Carl. The resultant conversion into dust by DU from it is marginally higher.

@herauthon

2 ай бұрын

Carl Sagan was not Recoilless ;)

The great thing about DU is that it doesn't mushroom when it hits a target. It sharpens as it penetrates. It's a penetration round, not explosive due to its radioactivity (which is minimal).

I’m just learning about these rounds now they sound really fun🤑🥳😁🦾

Reminds me a story of a tank crew getting heavy metal poisoning after drink beer that was poured down a tank barrel...

@Thornbeard

2 ай бұрын

As a tanker I have never heard of anyone doing something this stupid. How was the beer drank? From the breech or the bore end? What was the reasoning for doing it in the first place?

@billforrest4205

2 ай бұрын

Well there's a crew deserving of a fucking darwin award! 🙄🤨

@andrewvotava1465

2 ай бұрын

I'm guessing from the breech and they were dumb fucking kids drinking around the motor pool. Hell probably got the idea from platoon shot smoking scene. Like I said it was a story and not all of em are true.

Great way to get rid of radioactive waste on enemy land

@Spaceballerr

2 ай бұрын

DU doesn’t have harmful radiation, it’s effectively harder lead. You hear the word uranium and freak out because you’re uneducated on the subject.

@xenogorwraithblade2538

2 ай бұрын

​@@Spaceballerr Pretty sure it was a joke. And while DU isn't as dangerously radioactive, it still starts its life as part of uranium-235, the other part of which we use in power plants and nuclear warheads. So dude also ain't technically wrong, either. Maybe smoke a bowl and chill out.

@apokatastasian2831

2 ай бұрын

​@@Spaceballerrtechnically true a DU round intact sitting there emits radiation that is easily blocked by your skin. HOWEVER if you blast it into microscopic powder, say by shooting it at metal, then ingest or inhale a shard of that powder, that radiation becomes extremely dangerous over say a decade stuck in your lung maybe you should educate yourself on the subject instead of ingesting radioactive military propaganda that doesn't mind poisoning people and then abandoning them by denying a direct link to their cancers and health issues.... they did the same thing to my father in vietnam with agent orange. I have an adult half-sister in diapers that would say agent orange was real, but she can't speak...

@apokatastasian2831

2 ай бұрын

​@@SpaceballerrIt's actually adorable of you to call people out for their ignorance, when you are actually spouting the corporate line from the people that profit by this and are completely ignorant of both a.) the way it's used in a warzone, isn't the same as a lab test about DU "safety" b.) completely ignorant of the real world suffering some of these weapons cause. if using DU rounds explodes one extra tank instead of a tungsten one, but causes 100 mothers to weep over their stillborns, or deformed children over the next 1000 years...have we fought a just war?

@1pcfred

18 күн бұрын

Then don't be an enemy.

I'd like to point out that the A-10 was never specifically designed to kill tanks, it was designed as a Close Air Support platform to replace the A2 Sky Raider, so while killing tanks was a design consideration, it wasn't it's primary purpose

@mknewlan67

2 ай бұрын

Plus this was in 1979, I’d like to see a new test with the exact same set up. I’d put money that there’d be a lot more rounds on target.

@SirBrass

2 ай бұрын

​@mknewlan67 Considering the A10 initially came with near zero a/g targeting systems, and a bare bones gunfight, I agree. The weapon wasn't inaccurate, but the targeting systems were. A basic optical sight may have worked in fighters, but they were engaging targets much closer than an A10 doing a gun run. Current A10s can put rounds right where they want them thanks to improvements in a/g targeting technology.

After listing man other uses I was elated at 4:33, the Warthog and it's beloved GAU-8. I'm almost as impressed with the aircraft as I am with the weapon system.

It's dense, and thus heavy. Also you get to poison the land with radioactivity and heavy metals, and make any sort of local recovery following conflict near impossible, AND you can claim it wasn't your intention. It's a win win since you can't simply poison the wells and salt the land anymore.

@alexcarter8807

2 ай бұрын

The Cruelty Is The Point(tm)

@tadferd4340

2 ай бұрын

The radioactivity is so minor it's barely worth mentioning. The heavy metal poisoning is the real issue and it's an issue with all ammunition.

@montypython5521

Ай бұрын

Any worse than the heavy metal contamination of all the lead rounds?

Another benefit of the DU crystals is that they're self-sharpening, when they impact armor the outside will sheer off allowing the rest to penetrate farther than tungsten rounds would.

The, in theory, highly effective DU ammunition of the GAU-8 is pretty much the main reason why it's gun was and partially still is falsely held to such a high degree as ANY vehicle hit by such a bullet will, for the pilot, appear to be out of commission due to the high likelyhood of the splintering fragments catching fire and therefor giving off a lot of smoke, even if the vehicle is still fully functioning. The effectiveness of the GAU-8 is hyped to a degrees of other military myth like Tiger tanks being indistructable or T34 being most reliable ^^

I always wondered why depleted uranium was used. Thanks for the video!

I would be curious to know if the relation of health defects in regions where DU is closer related to infrastructure improvements rather than the weapons used.

My stepdad recieved a givernment letter stating that while they could neither confirm nor deny the presence of depleted uranium on the ship he was posted on, the Canadian government strongly suggested that everyone that served on his class of ship should get checked for cancers (something hes had and dealt with previously)

Apparently people have forgotten that lead is also a heavy metal and is present in every non specialized round in common use among not only military forces but also civilian use

@jeffreyfinney251

Ай бұрын

The army dropped lead in the 5.56 like 10-15 years ago

Because its extremely dense so combined with the weight, size of the projectile and its velocity it will pierce any current armor.

From some of my friends who used DU rounds, they actually found the HEDP rounds more useful. DU at the time certainly was considered a magic bullet by the eggheads in charge but the actual guys and gals that had to go in harms way quickly discovered otherwise. HEDP was the way to go for the simple reason it could be used on a more variety of targets with better results.

Although controversial, recent ecological studies have found out that tungsten cores in tank ammunition (which have been used since at least WW2) are probably worse for the environment than using depleted uranium amo. At least according to Chieftain

@SmokeElectronics

2 ай бұрын

I think it's cobalt tungsten that is so toxic. That is why rings are tungsten carbide. Either way heavy metal poisoning is no joke. Between burning vehicles burning wells and burning trash the Gulf war was a very bad place to be. This video only focuses on radiation which was minimal

@SuperCrazf

2 ай бұрын

@@SmokeElectronics it’s probably cobalt tungsten as you say. Regardless, beware of heavy metals

Very interesting and informative.

Im pretty sure i read a paper that suggested uranium decays into lead eventually. The state of matter isnt so definite. The idea that heavier atoms can decay into different atoms seems pretty revolutionary to me. It means the process can go the other way as well.

DU is Pyrophoric, it burns as friction initiates ignition.

If they want fragmenting rounds, just make an aluminum round, and fill it with tungsten bars possibly lightly epoxy in place. It will shoot out the tungsten bars on impact.

The natural nuclear reactor was super interesting. No clue if its common knowledge that just passed me, but I had no idea. Very interesting, thanks!

@blackmoon8459

2 ай бұрын

Kyle Hill also brought it up in one of his videos on disposal of nuclear waste via deep well (miles deep) drilling operations as to why very deep disposal of nuclear waste is safe. At least I think it was in that video. Might have also been in one of his Half-Life History videos. He's a very well educated layman and edu-tainer. Which is the same category that TIFO falls into. Edu-tainment. Not that what is posted here lacks merit, but the purpose is different. An article in a scientific journal vs. an article in Popular Science magazine. So a more long-winded way of saying, if you enjoy TIFO videos, you might also like Kyle Hill's videos.

@Bruellhusten123

2 ай бұрын

@@blackmoon8459 thanks - am not a frequent TIFO viewer, but sometimes the algorithm washes interesting videos into my landing page and then I'll check it.

In reference to your A10 test at Nellis Air Force Base. Eight out of 10 hits is not a marginal result particularly when three were total kills and three were mobility kills. also, what were the conditions of the test; where there dummy crewmen inside, was there ammunition and fuel on board, If that wasn’t the case this isn’t an effective test.

@peterroach3377

2 ай бұрын

The A-10 cannon is over-rated as a tank killer

@henkch125

2 ай бұрын

It was near perfect conditions, no aa, all targets stationary, all targets in close formation, no ammo limit and as many passes as the pilot wanted. Nothing like this will ever happen in a combat situation. All of those tanks were outdated, modern tank armor would shrug those bullets off like nothing. They don’t load ammunition in those tests, you know why? Because if it blows up it tells us nothing, you don’t have to load it with ammo to check if the ammo would be destroyed and possibly explode. If the ammo compartment is hit and penetrated you can assume that it would go boom. If you want something to simulate real ammo you put in inert ammunition with for example sand inside. You put water in the fuel tanks to simulate fuel. Dummies were probably there but no sure on that one. The idea of those tests is is to check what will happen when you shoot x weapon on y target and not to blow shit up.

I learned this when I learned about tungsten rounds of tanks because apparently they use depleted uranium for the same type of rounds

Short answer: Not as radioactive as you may think. Normally made from spent fuel rods, these bullets/shells take advantage of being a heavy metal (heavier than iron/brass/steel/etc.) If you want a better AP bullet, you use heavier metals as a core. Aerodynamics aside ofc, this is brute force.

Okay real question.. How do you make sooo many videos! Its insane. The quality is generally pretty good to.

U238 is very heavy and dense but not radioactive. The sense bullet at speed will pierce anything.

@brentvfreiberger

2 ай бұрын

All uranium is radioactive Utah of all the naturally occurring radioactive substances U238 or DU is third least radioactive. Half life of U238 is over 1.5 billion years. Radioactivity in your basement is higher than around Uranium, due to the long term accumulation of Radon in the uranium decay chain.

My teacher explained the total process of enrichment and when I asked if it was a protected technology due to the nature and he said “no it just takes so much energy to do that even if you did they would see you from space before you got enough”

Actually from the "hit" rate you just discussed it might be better to just stand still if a warthog is approaching. LOL. I thought those planes were badass the sound of those guns are so cool firing so fast it doesn't even sound like a machine gun.

Its very usefull in some "short" gun barrel tanks like the Abrams to have better penetration power with no need to make the barrel longer to increase gun initial velocity

My father flew a P51 in WWII and said the whole 9 yards of 50cal ammunition could be shot in 36 seconds. But if you did the barrels would melt. As the bullets would penetrate the sagging barrels and ruin your accuracy.

I fired 1000 rounds of APFSDS (DU) in 25 MM in combat (Gulf War). I was a Bradley Fighting Vehicle gunner. I have a clean bill of health 33 years later. Eating MRE's for 7 months was the worst physical damage to me. The danger in DU is breathing dust/particulates of the metal. This would be if you fired into something then hung around for a while as the target cooked off. Volume and duration. Some instances though of 120 MM rounds from the M1 Abrams hitting vehicles and the crews being exposed to intense exposure while still in the vehicles (volume, intensity and saturation). Even with that, there has been relatively low numbers of illness directly attributed to/documented and admitted DU exposure for the Gulf War veterans. I don't know the number for modern conflicts. 2-4 Cavalry, 24th Infantry Division (MECH) XVIII Airborne Corps.

DU only emits alpha particles, i.e. helium. This isn't the ionizing radiation that people are concerned about, radiation wise. Aside from getting hit by it as a soft target, it's main health risk is the same as other heavy metals: ingestion.

That's very interesting. I always wondered why they used DU in ammunition. Now I know. Thanks.

would love to see a video on the effects of burn pits

Every time there is a by product that’s hard or costly to get rid of they incorporate it into something and charge the masses for this. Fluoride put into water is one that comes to mind and DU seems to fit this strategy as well.

@AzaIndustries

2 ай бұрын

Fluoride is great, in very small amounts.

I was a FC in the Navy. I maintained and operated electronic based weapon systems. Watching the Phalanx CIWS cut boats in half using these rounds was quite the show. Also, I have heavy metal poisoning from my time in the navy, but not from the weapon systems oddly enough lol

Standing on one's head at job interviews forms a lasting impression.

Fun fact it was also used in fiestaware dishes for years as opposed to the original recipe which called for active uranium.

The A10 Warthog is beloved for its close combat support role. The aircraft is great at danger close air support. Ground combat troops can call in A10 fire on opposing enemy positions that are extremely close to their own positions.

@zejulius58

2 ай бұрын

As stated in the video, the mavericks did their job very well too ! The gau8 is overrated, but the plane is still an effective platform even without it :)

On the warthog short burst you frogot to mention it will also cause the aircraft to stall in flight if to long a burst is used

There is a channel called Oxide where he tests out some DU 7.62 rounds on body armor. Pretty interesting stuff

Just want to point an inaccuracy concerning CIWS, CIWS is no longer loaded with DU rounds at least in the US navy.

The U.S. military uses tank armor and some bullets made with depleted uranium (DU) to penetrate enemy armored vehicles, and began using DU on a large scale during the Gulf War. The process of manufacturing enriched uranium from natural uranium used in nuclear reactors or weapons leaves "depleted" uranium. DU has 40 percent less radioactivity, but the same chemical toxicity as natural uranium. If you think you were exposed to depleted uranium during your service, talk to your local VA Environmental Health Coordinator. Ask to be screened for depleted uranium exposure, and ask about the Depleted Uranium Follow-up Program.

Phalanx ammo in the UK at least is all Tungsten now, DU phased out by about 2000

In WW2 they were using Tungsten in anti-tank kinetic rounds. DU is much denser. Uranium has a half life of between 700 million to 4 billion years, which means it's only slightly radioactive. Coal is probably more dangerous, but so having no heat in the wintertime. DU is added to the mix of various aggregates used in the construction of nuclear reactors. Lead is also slightlyradioactive.

Depleted uranium is also used as the outer casing of a fission-fusion-fission thermonuclear warhead.

Haven't watched the video yet but I'm guessing because we have a lot of depleted uranium left over from enrichment and it's heavier than lead so it works really great for high power weapons like 20mm and 30mms

You literally pulled the title of this video straight from my brain!

What about all the burning oil wells and other fires during the war. There was a lot more contamination than just DU .

"Heavy metal poisoning" is a generalized term. It doesn't describe the effects of any specific metal, in fact zinc is a "heavy metal" and it's harmless. The specific effects of DU are already covered in this video. The more worrisome heavy metals are lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. With the first two being potent neurotoxins.

Back in the day, and after the LA bank robbery, my department issued DU pistol rounds to defeat body armor. We kept them in a separate magazine on our duty belts. They were 9mm and had sharp hollow points. Shortly after, we were issued M16’s surplus military.

I wonder if a Depleted Uranium 50MG bullet exists. like one of those really big sniper rifles that are almost cannons and are primarily used for targeting armored units in ambush tactics to take out unit leaders of tank squadrons

Due weight/density, gives penetration. DU is not that radioactive, but it is toxic. 19 kg of DU was used in 737 airframes as counterweight until one crashed to a residential area in The Netherlands. Then those were banned from West, at least.

Writing as some one who every week separates paper, cardboard, plastic and glass for recycling: I am concerned about all these people going around littering the place with spent nuclear fuel. It makes me feel depressed. 😢

It contains less that the natural concentration of isotope 235. In other words it is less radioactive that uranium ore that you can find in the American desert. It's used because it's very dense, and it's a biproduct of the Uranium enrichment for reactors and weapons.

Du rounds have enhanced penetration due to the massive density. In Iraq we had our APC"s engaged Iraqi T-72"s once, their chainguns with DU ammo cut thru the frontal armor of the T-72"s 10 inch frontal armor killing 5 of them.

It's all about density. Like politisions, they're all about density also.

You won't find DU in light arms, like rifle and pistol cartridges, outside of maybe .50BMG. But even those have moved to tungsten core for their AP rounds. DU is used in 20-40mm and light artillery for armor penetration due to how hard it is. For instance the GAU-8 uses 30mm DU API and HEI rounds for penetrating the armor of a tank. We don't have to worry about someone sneaking around with DU 9mm.

the same issue is seen in chernobil no freek mutations no devastating population loss of wildlife. infact the wildlife is thriving more from the seclusion zone meaning no humans than the cases of sterility. sterility being found as the only detected problem caused by the radioactive contamination is surprisingly low and definitely less impactful than humans living there burning firewood clearing land or hunting and fishing.

At the south access gate of the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range they had check point controls and an obligatory information centre which posted video, pictures and an entire presentation of the dangers of picking up an expended round and pocketing it for a day or so as a souvenir. The pictures were gruesome. SAGD oil extraction on remote corners of the range meant lots of traffic and military can be clever devils in obfuscation so I wonder, Simon, was that manipulation or is true that might indeed be a risk? It is a gunnery training range for F 18s so high rate of expended ground slugs. Enquiring minds want to know. 😊

Even wounded enemies may die or become useless in battles!