§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the military value of tungsten as an alternative to depleted uranium. [8237]
§ Mr. Hoon[holding answer 22 October 2001]: The Ministry of Defence has funded research into both the metallurgical and ballistic aspects of tungsten penetrators in tank ammunition over a period of more than 30 years. With other UK research this has produced extensive data on the performance of different tungsten materials and designs. Depleted uranium has consistently outperformed tungsten alloy equivalents as a kinetic penetrator when employed in anti-armour weapon systems; its use, therefore, offers increased operational effectiveness. In recent years, a new tungsten round has been developed for the Royal Navy's Phalanx close-in-weapons system. Anti-armour properties are not important for this weapon system; in this case, a tungsten round offers improved performance. Since 1996 all replacement ammunition for the Phalanx system has been of the tungsten variety.