Bradleys kill t-72s

[charrison]

Linkage

But the U.S. cavalry squadron hit its marks, destroying an estimated 20 or more armored Iraqi adversaries, without the loss of a single U.S. vehicle.

U.S. Bradley fighting vehicles, despite being lighter, wiped out some of the Soviet-vintage T-72 tanks, a significant military milestone.

The secret for success? The Bradleys fired smaller shells, but they were of a particularly punishing variety made with depleted uranium, which pierced the armor of the heavier Iraqi vehicles.

"I had two Bradleys... One destroyed three T-72s and the other destroyed two," Lyle said.

 

[Bulk Beef]

OMG!! :Q:Q:Q:Q:Q Depleted Uranium?? Isn't that, like, nuclear weapons?

 

[junkyardDawg]

superior hardware
superior tactics
superior soldiers

no way the Iraqis can match up on a conventional battlefield

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: sward666
OMG!! :Q:Q:Q:Q:Q Depleted Uranium?? Isn't that, like, nuclear weapons?

Not this again...

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Uranium is only radioactive when either exposed to radioactive isotopes or when imploded by massive explosions of TnT(resulting in a nuclear reaction) otherwise it is mearly a superhard, extremly dense(heavy) metal.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Holy sh!t, Batman. Bradleys taking out multiple tanks? I guess all that money we "wasted" on building these superb fighting machines wasn't "wasted" after all. Kudos to the crews of those vehicles, too.

I have to go clean my pants out now. Excuse me.

 

[JellyBaby]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong

Uranium is only radioactive when either exposed to radioactive isotopes or when imploded by massive explosions of TnT(resulting in a nuclear reaction) otherwise it is mearly a superhard, extremly dense(heavy) metal.

That said don't go eating any depleted uranium ammo....it won't pass very well.

 

[OFFascist]

HMMM?

Part of me is skeptical that the 25mm gun on the Bradley can take out a tank, then again A-10s kill tanks with a 30mm round, so I dont know.

That being said, that is really damn cool if a Bradleys can indeed kill T-72s without having to use thier 2 shot tow launchers.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong

Uranium is only radioactive when either exposed to radioactive isotopes or when imploded by massive explosions of TnT(resulting in a nuclear reaction) otherwise it is mearly a superhard, extremly dense(heavy) metal.

Wrong. Completely wrong. Please do some reading up as you obviously have no idea what you're talking about. You're giving out erroneous information.

 

[PreDatoR]

LOL ok then smartass tell him he's wrong but you don't bother to tell everyone how he's wrong and what is correct... typical idiot nef response...

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong

Uranium is only radioactive when either exposed to radioactive isotopes or when imploded by massive explosions of TnT(resulting in a nuclear reaction) otherwise it is mearly a superhard, extremly dense(heavy) metal.

Uranium is radioactive, all by itself in its naturally occuring form. Depleted uranium is roughly 40% less radioactive

You can use any form of conventional explosives you want, as long as it will go off in an orderly fashion

The explosions are not really "massive"

A big plus for DU is that as it goes through armor, it self-sharpens... that is, it flakes of material rather than mushrooming

 

[Marshallj]

Let me give some factual info.

ALL isotopes of Uranium are radioactive. There is no such thing as non-radioactive uranium.

Imploding uranium with explosives does not make it any more or less radioactive.

Although all uranium is radioactive, not all isotopes of uranium are fissionable (able to support a chain reaction). Uranium as it comes from the ground is nearly all Uranium 238, with a tiny bit of Uranium 235, and even less Uranium 234. The rare Uranium 235 is the "magic ingredient" in nuclear devices. Increasing the U-235 content is called enriching. Nuclear reactors require enriched uranium, and nuclear bombs require highly enriched uranium... uranium containing a high percentage of a Uranium-235.

Depleted uranium is uranium that has had some of its U-235 content removed.

 

[Bleep]

Here is a link about depleted uraniam
Linkie

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: Mookow


You can use any form of conventional explosives you want, as long as it will go off in an orderly fashion

The explosions are not really "massive"

You can't make a nuclear explosion with depleted uranium. Nearly all (over 99%) of naturally occuring uranium is Uranium-238. U-238 is pretty much worthless. Uranium-235 is the "good stuff" which is fissionable and therefore useful in nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs. So therefore uranium used as fuel must be refined to increase the proportion of U-235.

Natural Uranium, containing only about 0.7% Uranium 235, is pretty much worthless by itself. Depleted uranium contains even less U-235, and is even "more worthless".

It's very hard to refine since U-235 and U-238 are chemically identical. Therefore you can't seperate them by chemical means.

http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/guide/facts/index.cfm

 

[Marshallj]

Some little tidbits of info:

Uranium as it comes out of the ground is mostly U-238, with a U-235 content of around 0.7%

Most commercial reactors require uranium fuel to have a U-235 content of 3 - 5%.

Nuclear weapons grade uranium needs to have a U-235 content of over 90%

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: Mookow


You can use any form of conventional explosives you want, as long as it will go off in an orderly fashion

The explosions are not really "massive"

You can't make a nuclear explosion with depleted uranium. Nearly all (over 99%) of naturally occuring uranium is Uranium-238. U-238 is pretty much worthless. Uranium-235 is the "good stuff" which is fissionable and therefore useful in nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs. So therefore uranium used as fuel must be refined to increase the proportion of U-235.

Natural Uranium, containing only about 0.7% Uranium 235, is pretty much worthless by itself. Depleted uranium contains even less U-235, and is even "more worthless".

It's very hard to refine since U-235 and U-238 are chemically identical. Therefore you can't seperate them by chemical means.

http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/guide/facts/index.cfm

*sighs* I guess I wasnt being clear and delineating the post. My bad. I know why DU is called "depleted", I know about Oak Ridge in Tennessee, and IIRC all isotopes of any given element are chemically identical.

There is a handy way to make U-238 useful for nuclear purposes, though

 

[mechBgon]

I think the 200-round-per-minute 25mm cannon of the Bradley might have the advantage, versus the hit-or-miss nature of the T-72's main gun. The Bradley's gunner can probably tell visually where his slugs are landing and adjust his aim on-the-fly, whereas the T-72 gunner is trying to hit a moving target by lobbing one large slug at it, then reloading and trying again if he misses.

I don't know what a T-72's main targeting system consists of, but if the tank is taking hundreds of rounds per minute, it's not going to be long before the sensors/windows/whatever get hit and are impared or destroyed, methinks, making it impossible to aim.

 

[styrafoam]

The Bradlys also mount a TOW missle launcher, which is most likely what they are engaging the T-72's with.

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: styrafoam
The Bradlys also mount a TOW missle launcher, which is most likely what they are engaging the T-72's with.

Initially thats what I thought, but then there is this bit:

The secret for success? The Bradleys fired smaller shells, but they were of a particularly punishing variety made with depleted uranium, which pierced the armor of the heavier Iraqi vehicles

Of course, the reporters could have gotten it wrong again

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: Mookow
There is a handy way to make U-238 useful for nuclear purposes

How would you make U-238 useful for nuclear purposes? By turning it into plutonium?

 

[styrafoam]

According to this the reporter is correct in saying the Bradley can use the uranium ammo, I would still think that the weapon of choice would be the missles.

 

[RossGr]

I believe that the key to the DU ammo is the density. It packs a lot of mass into a small package, then it is fired at a high velocity, therefore has a lot of kinetic energy and is able to penatrate armor.

Not sure if it is correct but I recall reading (sorry no link, so take it as a believe or not) DU ammo may release a stream of energetic neutrons upon impact, essentially the main shell stops but neutrons continue on, this can be fatal to the crew even if the impact does not destroy the tank. It was said that DU ammo were sort of a poor mans neutron bomb.

Anybody have knowledge that can confirm or deny this.

 

[Bleep]

Why dont you click on the link I provided and you will see what depleted uranium is all about, it is also used as armor in the Bradly and the Tanks.

 

[Oric]

The correct question :

After the war is over, will these depleted uranium shells create radioactive poisoning and other related environmental problems ?

 

[mk]

Originally posted by: Bleep
Why dont you click on the link I provided and you will see what depleted uranium is all about, it is also used as armor in the Bradly and the Tanks.

Since when have the Bradleys had DU? AFAIK only some later Abrams models are the only US vehicles with depleted uranium armor (probably "Dorchester" which was originally designed for Challenger 2).