Secondly, American tanks and artillery units do not routinely fire "depleted uranium" shells. These are the heaviest and most expensive rounds that we possess. They are used for a specific purpose -- penetrating the sides of enemy tanks or other armored vehicles. They have no other military application. In all other circumstances, depleted uranium shells are LESS effective, not more effective, for the purpose at hand.
Just to use one obvious example in urban warfare: Assume the bad guys are firing through the windows of a brick building. A DU round fired at that target will go through the front wall and then through the back wall, without harming anyone inside, unless they are directly in the way of the shell. A standard, steel-jacketed explosive shell, on the other hand, will take out the front wall, and maybe cause the building to collapse. Any of the enemy who survive that, can then be dealt with by use of 50-caliber machine gun fire.
The writer apparently read somewhere about DU shells, and therefore uses the term in his article as a "bad-*ssed" weapon. Here's how those puppies actually work. Because of their weight and density, a DU shell in a direct hit can punch a small hole -- maybe as little as a half-inch circle -- through to the inside of the armor of even the most modern and well-armored tanks that any potential enemy possesses. What comes through that hole is a small amount of liquid uranium, melted by the heat of the impact and penetration.
Although uranium requires very high heat to liquify, once it reaches that point it burns as smartly as aluminum. The inside of the tank becomes a fireball. Its own ammunition is set off, which causes the explosion that occurs AFTER the DU round has penetrated the tank. In firing on a building, all that penetrating power is self-defeating. But the dummy writing this article didn't have a clue about this, obviously.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, now up on UPI, and FR, "The A-MAA-zing War Wizard"
That is the sabot emerging from the shell.
Now, does "DU" stand for "Depleted Underground?"
Wow. Thank you, Congressman. Is there no possibility, then, that the DU round would pass completely through the tank harmlessly, as per your wall example?