The United States is expected to provide Ukraine with depleted-uranium rounds for Abrams tanks.

This decision is planned to be approved by President Joe Biden’s Administration.

The Wall Street Journal reported on this, citing U.S. officials.

The publication notes that the depleted-uranium rounds will be provided following weeks of internal debate in the White House on how to equip the Abrams tanks the U.S. is providing Ukraine with.

The journalists write that the Pentagon advocated that the US Abrams tanks, which will be transferred to Ukraine, be armed with armor-piercing ammunition with depleted uranium, used by the U.S. army and “very effective against Russian tanks”.

The media notes that while some officials state that there are no serious obstacles to providing such ammunition to Ukraine, some White House officials have expressed concern that sending the rounds could expose the United States to criticism for providing weapons that could pose a risk to health and the environment.

In March, the UK decided to transfer depleted uranium ammunition for Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Depleted uranium is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process for use in nuclear power. It is less radioactive than natural uranium.

Above all, the high density of this metal makes it suitable to produce penetrators of armor-piercing ammunition. A core of alloys of uranium with other metals has a high tank armor penetrating power, and the pyrophoricity can affect the tank’s crew and equipment inside upon impact.

Such rounds have been used for several decades, both in the U.S. military and in other countries of the world.

The M829A was developed in the early 2000s. The overall length of the core is 800 mm, with 10 cm of the steel front and 70 cm of the depleted uranium core. The core’s diameter is 25 mm, and the weight is up to 10 kg. Such a round is capable of penetrating at least 700 mm of tank armor at a distance of 2 km at an initial speed of 1550 m/s. The latest version of the M829A4 is currently in serial production. The round received improvements that allowed it to penetrate even thicker armor.