Dundrennan Range

The Dundrennan Range is a weapons testing range on the Solway Firth near Kirkcudbright, southwest Scotland.

Dating back to 1942, it is part of the Kirkcudbright Training Area, 4,700 acres of farming land acquired by the army during World War II to train forces in preparation for the invasion of Europe. It includes a 15 x 19 mile sea danger area, where projectiles are fired into the Solway.

The range is the site of the Electro-Magnetic Launch Facility where, since 1993, the MoD and the United States Army have been working on a research project aimed at developing an electro-magnetic launcher, or rail gun, which will last until at least 2009. Projectiles from the gun can travel at up to 7,500 mph, are the thickness of a broom handle and about a foot long. The projectiles carry no payload as the kinetic energy of their speed is enough to destroy a tank at a range of five miles, and render any armour ineffective.

It has been claimed that environmental damage could be or has been done by the testing of shells containing depleted uranium (DU) at this site. Over 6,500 are said to have been fired in the period up to 1999.

On March 10, 2008, five days of testing DU shells (tank ammunition) began at the range, reported to be the first firing of DU ammunition there for five years. The MoD stated that the testing was needed to carry out safety checks for military operations. The occasion was used by Mike Russell MSP, to state that he was disappointed at the lack of consultation regarding the exercise, stating "The Scottish Government has not been consulted on this issue and it is clearly disappointing that the MoD has not taken local opinion into account". South of Scotland SNP MSP Alasdair Morgan said he was also concerned at the decision. Local campaigners staged a protest in nearby Kirkcudbright against the test firing.

The MoD said comprehensive environmental monitoring had been in place around the military range for several years, and findings were that the DU shells did not pose a significant risk to the environment or people in the area.

External links

• Public Information Leaflet from the Army Training Estate
• Call to stop uranium shell tests, BBC News, February 7, 2001
• Dundrennan: Under friendly fire, BBC News, February 20, 2001
• DU shell test-firing resumes, BBC News, February 21, 2001
• Concern over supergun tests, BBC News, August 14, 2003
• MOD lied over Depleted Uranium, Sunday Herald, February 29, 2004
• Depleted uranium tests under way, BBC News, March 10, 2008
• Weapon test move comes under fire, BBC News, March 11, 2008

Aerial views

^{Microsoft integrated Multimap into Live Search in the UK, April 2008}

• Multimap OS view showing the Danger Area

Map

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