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I'm sad that the AF wants to retire this plane. This plane was defined with one purpose: build a plane around this gun, that being a 30mm autocannon firing depl

I'm sad that the AF wants to retire this plane. This plane was defined with one purpose: build a plane around this gun, that being a 30mm autocannon firing depleted uranium shells (not radioactive) that fires at such a rate that it retards the velocity of the plane carrying the gun, and would melt the gun if it fired from full to empty continuously. The plane was built for survivability. It can withstand an engine being shot off (why the engines are external on "pods"). The cockpit is (I think) surrounded by a 2 inch titanium tub. I'm not sure the JSF, i.e. F-35 will be capable of taking over this role, as is intended.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
MereInterest 10y ago
As a side note, depleted uranium is certainly still radioactive. "Depleted" refers to the percentage of U-235, the isotope used for making nuclear weapons. Only about 0.7% of naturally occurring uranium is U-235, with the rest being mainly U-238. U-238 emits alpha particles, with a half life of about 4 billion years. The radioactivity is unrelated to its use as bullets, which relies on its high density, but it is radioactive.