U.S. Set to Approve Depleted-Uranium Tank Rounds for Ukraine

The Pentagon has urged that the Abrams tanks the U.S. is providing Ukraine be armed with depleted-uranium rounds, which are regularly used by the U.S. Army and are highly effective against Russian tanks. Fired at a high rate of speed, the rounds are capable of penetrating the frontal armor of a Russian tank from a distance.  

“The projectile hits like a freight train,” said Scott Boston, a defense analyst at the Rand Corporation and former Army artillery officer. “It is very long and very dense. So it puts a great deal of kinetic energy on a specific point on an enemy armor array.” 

The proposal has been debated at the White House, where some officials have expressed concern that sending the rounds might open Washington to criticism that it was providing a weapon that may carry health and environmental risks. 

The deliberations over the tank rounds, which haven’t previously been reported, come as Ukraine conducts a major counteroffensive with the aim of clawing back territory from Russian forces. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday indicated that that long-awaited operation had begun. 

Top Biden administration officials say the U.S. goal is to enable Ukraine to make as much progress as possible on the battlefield, to put Kyiv in the strong negotiating position if peace talks are eventually held. But there has been disagreement within the Biden administration about how best to support Ukrainian forces, including whether to supply cluster munitions. 

Political support for Ukraine on Capitol Hill remains strong, but some lawmakers say that backing may begin to wane if Kyiv’s counteroffensive falls short and that the White House should be more supportive of the country’s current arms requests. 

The saga over the ammunition goes back to January, when the White House agreed to provide Ukraine with 31 Abrams tanks as part of a broader understanding in which Berlin and other European capitals would agree to send German-made Leopard 2 tanks. 

The M1 Abrams tank is one of the most powerful ground weapons in the U.S. arsenal, but its complicated technology and turbine engine could pose logistical challenges for Ukrainian forces. Photo: Inquam Photos/Reuters

At first, the U.S. planned to buy new M1A2 Abrams tanks. But to shorten the delivery time the administration decided to refurbish M1A1 tanks already in the American inventory and provide them to Ukraine.

Ukrainian personnel are currently being trained in Germany on how to operate and maintain the Abrams, which the Pentagon has said will be delivered by the fall. 

That has left the question of how to arm the tanks. As the U.S. considered its options, Britain delivered Challenger tanks to Ukraine, along with depleted-uranium armor-piercing shells for them to fire.

While depleted uranium is a byproduct of the uranium-enrichment process, it doesn’t generate a nuclear reaction. The United Nations Environment Program said in a report last year that the metal’s “chemical toxicity” presents the greatest potential danger, and “it can cause skin irritation, kidney failure and increase the risks of cancer.”

Russia President

John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said in March that the Russian argument was disingenuous and that Moscow’s principal concern was the heightened threat to its tanks. “This kind of ammunition is fairly commonplace,” he said, adding that studies indicate it isn’t a radioactive threat. But at the time the U.S. wasn’t providing Ukraine with any depleted-uranium rounds. 

The White House is still deliberating whether to provide other weapons for Ukraine, including cluster munitions, which Kyiv has requested. 

Some Pentagon officials favor providing cluster munitions—known as dual-purpose improved conventional munitions—to Ukraine’s forces to help them counter Russian forces. NATO’s top commander, Gen.

Officials at the NSC and State Department have resisted providing cluster munitions. Human-rights activists and some allied nations have raised concerns that unexploded ordnance in the ground could lead to civilian casualties long after the conflict is over.

The Ukrainians also continue to press for U.S.-made long-range missiles known as ATACMS. While President Biden said in May that that option is “still in play,” U.S. officials say such a step isn’t imminent. 

But depleted-uranium rounds are now expected to be sent. 

“Tank-on-tank fighting hasn’t seemed to be very common in this war,” said Boston, the Rand analyst. “But to the extent that it happens, we’d like the Ukrainians to win at it.”

Write to Michael R. Gordon at [email protected] and Gordon Lubold at [email protected]