Part of the military's mission at home is to keep stockpiles of goods like critical minerals on hand for emergency wartime use.
In the dark on the stockpileAlthough the name suggests otherwise, rare earth minerals are not exactly rare — in fact, they're relatively plentiful.
The Biden administration began cutting American imports of Chinese rare earth minerals a few years ago in an effort to decrease US reliance on China for critical minerals.
Submarines, fighter aircraft, magnets used in missiles, radar systems, and drones all require critical earth minerals for manufacturing.
AdvertisementA past report for Congress on rare earth minerals for national defense, for instance, noted that a single Virginia-class submarine requires 9,200 pounds of rare earth minerals, while an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer requires 5,200 pounds.
Persons:
—, Biden, Lockheed Martin, Gregory Wischer, Wischer, Arleigh Burke, Halsey, Sampson, Chris Williamson Fabian Villalobos, Locke
Organizations:
Service, Business, Pentagon, Lockheed, Getty, Gratia, Defense Logistics Agency, of, Department of Defense, Defense Industrial Strategy, . US, Pacific, DoD, Materials, Lynas, Joint Base, Hickam . US Navy, RAND Corporation, National Defense, NDS, Industrial Base
Locations:
China, Fort Worth, Virginia, Arabian, Japan, South Korea, United States, California, Lynas USA, Texas, Vermont, Hickam