Generally if you are in a tank that gets hit with a DU round, you are past caring if it causes cancer, or will get into your bloodstream, because you will be pureed hamburger that was roasted over an open flame inside what used to be your tank.
DU is pyrophoric, so when a DU dart hits a tank, the pieces that penetrate burn like magnesium, and ignite everything they hit.
Furthermore, the US doesn't use DU any more, not in MBT tank rounds. US APFSDS tank rounds are tungsten now. I'm not sure about the smaller cannon rounds, though.
DU is a big issue when it comes to cleaning up battlefield wrecks, it contaminates the inside of every vehicle hit with it.
All of this is classified (what I know has been oopsie -daisied to the public), but the theory is that the diamond acts as a sacrificial abrasive layer, allowing the carbide to push deeper before it abrades.
This is also all stopgap and bullshittium, because the Army refuses to either upgrade the gun on the M1A2, or just develop a new tank.
Generally if you are in a tank that gets hit with a DU round, you are past caring if it causes cancer, or will get into your bloodstream, because you will be pureed hamburger that was roasted over an open flame inside what used to be your tank.
DU is pyrophoric, so when a DU dart hits a tank, the pieces that penetrate burn like magnesium, and ignite everything they hit.
Furthermore, the US doesn't use DU any more, not in MBT tank rounds. US APFSDS tank rounds are tungsten now. I'm not sure about the smaller cannon rounds, though.
DU is a big issue when it comes to cleaning up battlefield wrecks, it contaminates the inside of every vehicle hit with it.
Newest long-rod penetrators actually have a industrial diamond tip over a tungsten carbide cap over the tungsten rod.
Does that make any sense? Wouldn't the diamonds on the tips just shatter on impact? Diamond is very hard but very brittle.
All of this is classified (what I know has been oopsie -daisied to the public), but the theory is that the diamond acts as a sacrificial abrasive layer, allowing the carbide to push deeper before it abrades.
This is also all stopgap and bullshittium, because the Army refuses to either upgrade the gun on the M1A2, or just develop a new tank.