Written question asked by Caroline Lucas (Green Party) on Thursday, 31 March 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 April 2011. It was answered by Liam Fox (Conservative) on Tuesday, 5 April 2011 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Libya: Armed Conflict

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the use of depleted uranium weapons; and how that policy (a) is applied to and (b) will apply in operations in Libya.

Answer: The Government's policy is that depleted uranium (DU) can be used within weapons. It is not prohibited under current or likely future international agreements. The UK's armed forces use all munitions in accordance with international humanitarian law. It would be quite wrong to deny our serving personnel a legitimate and effective capability.The only DU munition in service with our armed forces is the Charm 3 antitank round fired from the Challenger 2 tank. With no deployed ground forces it follows that none of the weapons supplied to UK armed forces for uses over Libya contain DU.Other nations may choose to use DU munitions fired from aircraft guns against armoured targets if they have that capability but that is a choice for them alone to make.

Secondary information