Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Green Bullets

The Army is to get environmentally friendly bullets as part of the first redesign of its standard ammunition in half a century. The new bullet will be lead-free with a steel core, removing the potential for lead pollution.

A defence analyst said: “People will laugh if we say it is an ethical bullet, but lead pollution is an issue, particularly for soldiers on ranges, as heavy metal particles remain in the air.”

1 comment:

ajohnstone said...

This news item appears to be part of a bigger picture of BAE placing stories in the media since there is a previous article way back in 2006 on th BBC about green weaponry.

"Reduced-lead bullets and recyclable explosives are among the developments being put forward by arms manufacturer British Aerospace (BAE) as part of a major investment in ecologically-sound weaponry....

...Another of BAE's ideas is what has been described as a "bang-free bomb"....

....Future trends analyst Sarah Bentley cited explosives that eventually turn into manure, which essentially "regenerate the environment that they had initially destroyed..." this manner it would be a good thing."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6081486.stm

Seems to me to be part of a PR job that the mainstream media such as The Times and the BBC are happy to go unquestioningly along with since neither felt it necessary to mention the problem of the widespread use of uranium-depleted shells and bombs that research repeatedly indicates as a major pollution problem and health hazard at the aftermath of a conflict.