Around 20 countries are thought to have DU weapon systems in their arsenals. These include: UK, US, France, Russia, Belarus, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, Pakistan, Thailand, China, India, Belarus and Taiwan.
Many of them were sold DU ammunition by the US while others, including France, Russia, Pakistan, China and India developed it independently.
Many tanks with 105 mm guns (M60 series MBT and their local variants) and 120 mm guns (M1A1, M1A2, Challenger, Leclerc, Leopard 2, etc.) can fire DU rounds, however, it is difficult to prove the presence of DU ammunition in national inventories. Russia, Pakistan and China also use a 125mm round.
With the exception of the US Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Phalanx CWIS shipboard defence system (that now uses a tungsten round) and the now banned ADAM M692 anti-personnel landmine; the vast majority of DU munitions fall into the 120 or 105mm tank and 30mm aircraft ammunition category. The following data is far from complete.
Bahrain
Belarus
China
Egypt
France
Greece
India
Israel
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Pakistan
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Bahrain
Current inventory unknown.
Belarus
Current inventory unknown.
China
China, following Russia and Pakistan's examples has manufactured and deployed a 125mm DU penetrator for use in its tanks. Three 105mm variants are also reported.
Chinese Type-86 105mm DU
Chinese Type-93 105mm DU
Chinese Type-95 105mm DU
Source: Janes.
Egypt
Current inventory unknown.
France
Sicn (100% owned by COGEMA) machined 60,000 penetrators for the 120 mm munition APFSDS-T OFL 120 F2, used by the Leclerc tank. The remainder of the munition was made by Giat Industries of Salbris. Both of these companies were also involved in the manufacture of the 105mm ammunition used in the F1 cannon of the AMX-30 tank.
Source: Mary Byrd Davis "Nuclear France: materials and sites"
http://www.francenuc.org/en_sites/rhone_ann_e.htm
(France)
OFL 105 F2 105mm APFSDS (for AMX-30B2 tank)
OFL 120 F2 120mm APFSDS (for Leclerc tank)
Greece
Greece purchased 504 Area Denial Antipersonnel Mine (ADAM) artillery shells (ADAM M692 worth $2.6 million) from the U.S. prior to 1992, when a moratorium on the export of antipersonnel mines was put into effect. Each ADAM 155 mm projectile contains 36 antipersonnel mines, and each mine contains DU as a propellant. These were to be destroyed with the rest of Greece's landmine stocks by March 2008, as of March 2007 no stocks had been destroyed. Greece informed landmine monitor that they were having technical problems as the ADAM mines had to be frozen before they can be destroyed.
Source: Human Rights Watch
http://hrw.org/reports/2000/uslm/USALM007-05.htm
Landmine Monitor
http://www.icbl.org/lm/2007/greece.html
Greece also uses M60A1 and M60A3 tanks and had been offered thousands of tank shells by the US as a gift but subsequently turned them down. In January 2001 Greece decided to remove 20mm DU Phalanx ammunition from its inventory following health worries.
Source: Janes
India
A declassified UK MoD paper on DU (see bottom of article) suggests that India was developing DU weapons in the early 90s. It is unclear whether they have been brought into service, although pressure from Pakistan's use of DU may have triggered an arms race.
Source: See PDF at bottom of page.
Israel
Palestinians have for a long time suspected that Israel had been using ammunition containing depleted uranium in residential areas in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel denies the charges but consistently refuses to reveal the type of ammunitions used in bombing Palestinian buildings. Israel has tanks capable of firing DU rounds, and has received exports of US
made DU ammunition.
Source: Henk van der Keur, Laka Foundation, Where and how much depleted uranium has been fired?
http://www.laka.org/info/publicaties/vu/where-how-much-01/main.html
Iraq
Following the 2003 invasion, the new Iraqi National Army is likely to be armed by US companies. More research is needed on whether they are being equipped with DU munitions.
Jordan
The Jordanians use both the UK Challenger and US M60A1/M60A3 tanks in their Royal Armed Forces. They are in the process of upgrading all of these vehicles
Source: Janes.
Kuwait
Kuwait was offered 'major non-NATO ally' status by the US in 2004. Countries holding MNNA designations are also authorised to use US Foreign Assistance funds to purchase depleted uranium penetrating components, such as the 105mm M833 anti-tank shell.
Kuwait is thought to have bought 11,336 rounds of 120mm ammunition from US manufacturer Alliant Tech Systems.
Source: Janes 2004
Oman
Oman uses US-designed M60 tanks and it is suspected that they have DU armaments supplied by the US. Oman also has UK-designed Challenger tanks but have been unable to purchase UK-made CHARM ammunition for them. It is suspected that purchase was denied for strategic reasons.
Oman has accordingly found itself having to make do with obsolete medium-pressure L23 KE projectiles, which are more than 20 years old in design and have tungsten nickel copper penetrators.
Source: Janes
UK ponders interim ammunition for Challenger 2 as re-arming schedule slips, Oct 2005.
Pakistan
Pakistan has developed an indigenous DU round, the 'Niaza' 125mm DU round is in use with the Al-Khalid tank. the tank was a joint project between China and Pakistan. Pakistan also uses a 125mm APFSDS depleted uranium (DU) round with its T-80UD tanks. The Pakistani Army also possesses 105mm DU tank ammunition.
Source: Defence News, 9 May 2001 Pakistan Joins DU Producer Nations
http://www.janes.com/defence/land_forces/news/idr/idr010509_1_n.shtml
Russian Federation
General Export for Defence manufacture 125mm 3BM32 tank ammunition, containing a DU penetrator. They have also marketed a shaped charge high explosive tank round encased in a DU liner for 'enhanced killing power'.
Source: Dan Fahey "Science or Science Fiction? Facts, Myths and Propaganda In the Debate Over Depleted Uranium Weapons"
http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/pdf/dumyths.pdf
(Russia)
3UBM-13 115mm APFSDS (for T-62 tank)
3BM32 125mm APFSDS (for T-72 tank)
3BK21M 125mm HEAT-FS (for T-72 tank)
Further reading on Russian penetrators: http://www.russianarmor.info/Tanks/ARM/apfsds/ammo.html
Russia has also produced an air-to-air missile, the R-60, which contains uranium in some versions
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is though to have bought DU munitions from both the US and UK for use in its tank fleet.
Taiwan
Taiwan bought 1000 M774 105mm DU penetrators from the US in the early 90s. It's current DU inventory is unknown.
Source: Janes Defence.
Thailand
Thailand bought 150,000 rounds of 30mm ammunition made by US arms company Alliant Tech Systems.
Turkey
Turkey bought 22,920 105 mm M833 DU penetrators from the US in the early 90s, it is also thought to still have ADAM landmines in its inventory. The current overall status of its DU inventory is unknown.
United Kingdom
The development of the 120mm ‘CHARM 1’ and ‘CHARM 3’ tank ammunition together cost £375m. CHARM 3 tank ammunition is currently in use by the UK’s armed forces, but only in active warfare. The UK MoD claim that tungsten rounds are used for training purposes.
The first generation CHARM 1 weapon system cost £213m while CHARM 3 cost £161.5m. Both anti-tank systems were developed under commercial contracts at the following locations: Royal Ordance facilities at Birtley and Featherstone, AWE Aldermaston; the former AWE Cardiff, and tested at the MOD ranges at Eskmeals (Cumbria) and Kirkcudbright (Dundrennan, Dumfries & Galloway).
The UK also used 20mm shells as part of the US-built Phalanx Close-In-Weapon-System (or CWIS) until the manufacturer Raytheon stopped producing them after the US Navy cancelled its contract with them after it concluded that tungsten performed just as well but without the hazards.
(UK)
L27A1 CHARM 3 120mm APFSDS (for Challenger 2 tank)
United States
The US is currently by far the largest user of DU weapons. Over the past decade they have bought more than 16 million DU shells and bullets from Alliant TechSystems alone.
M829/A1/A2/A3 120mm APFSDS-T (for Abrams tank)
M774 105mm APFSDS-T, M833 105mm APFSDS-T (for M60 and Abrams tanks)
M900 105mm APFSDS (for Abrams tank and Stryker Mobile Gun System)
PGU-14/B 30mm API (for A-10)
M919 25mm APFSDS-T (for Bradley Fighting Vehicle),
PGU-20 25mm APFSDS-T (for AV-8 Harrier aircraft - no longer in service)
M101 20 mm Spotting round (for the Davey Crocket rifle - no longer in service)