§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any smart bombs or guided missiles containing either depleted uranium or natural uranium have been used in Afghanistan since September 2001, and how many bombs of 2,000 kg, 1,000 kg and less than 1,000 kg have been dropped. [HL6190]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach):The United Kingdom has not employed any weapons containing depleted uranium in Afghanistan. There are no air-launched bombs containing depleted uranium in UK service.
It is not our practice to comment on the details of operations conducted by other nations.
§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any bunker busting bombs such as GBU 28, GBU 37, GBU 15, GBU 24 and similar weapons were tested in the Balkans; and, if so, whether any contained natural uranium or depleted uranium, and how many of which sizes were dropped. [HL6I91]
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§ Lord Bach:The GBU-series are United States munitions, and it is not our practice to comment on the details of operations conducted by other nations.
However, the UK Paveway III, which was employed by the RAF in the Balkans, is essentially the same weapon as GBU-24. It is a precision-guided general purpose bomb, not specifically designed for bunker-busting, and does not contain depleted uranium. The United Kingdom does not possess equivalents to GBU-15, 28 and 37.
There are no air-launched bombs containing depleted uranium in UK service.
§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any weapons containing natural uranium or depleted uranium have been used in the bombing of the northern or southern no-fly zones in Iraq since the end of the Gulf war. [HL6192]
§ Lord Bach:Since the establishment of the no fly zones following the Gulf conflict, United Kingdom aircraft have released no munitions containing depleted uranium when responding in self-defence against attacks on them by Iraqi air defence weapons. There are no air-launched bombs containing depleted uranium in UK service.
It is not our practice to comment on the details of operations conducted by other nations.