The U.S. military has been tangling for years with environmentalists and Gulf War I veterans over depleted uranium (DU). The Pentagon uses the stuff in anti-tank warheads, because it's denser than lead. But many groups have claimed that DU is behind a range of illnesses, including the mysterious "Gulf War Syndrome." The Defense Department has consistently denied this.
Intrepid Defense Tech reader Darius has dug up the Army's 1981 patent application for what appears to be the anti-armor munitions. And it may give some ammunition (ouch!) to those opposed to DU. According to the application, the warhead's "lethal fragments may be made of... chemically toxic debris."
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