These critical minerals are indispensable for the jet engines of fighter aircraft and the semiconductors in missile guidance systems. There is a problem, however: China\u00a0controls 60\u201390% of global processing capacity<\/a>\u00a0for many of them.<\/p>\n The race to secure alternative sources has intensified, particularly considering China\u2019s\u00a0recent export restrictions<\/a>\u00a0on gallium and germanium, two elements critical for military-grade electronics.<\/p>\n This growing resource war is being fought against the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has further highlighted the West\u2019s vulnerability. Now, a\u00a0controversial minerals deal between the US and Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0aims to break this dependence.<\/p>\n This raises several questions, chief among them being can NATO allies truly regain control over their supply chains, and what will the cost of this new scramble for resources be?<\/p>\n Among the critical minerals listed by Nato, tungsten has emerged as one of the most strategically significant.<\/p>\n A September 2024\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) states that tungsten is essential for military applications, particularly in armour-piercing munitions and missile systems.<\/p>\n Lewis Black, CEO of Almonty Industries, a tungsten supplier, starkly put it: \u201cIf you want to drop something particularly unpleasant from a drone to eviscerate a car, you need tungsten.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to manufacture any munitions, whether artillery shells, through all the calibres, right down to small calibre, you need tungsten for the penetrators.\u201d<\/p>\n The GAO report highlights that the US Department of Defense (DoD) has assessed tungsten as a mineral with a high potential for supply chain disruption.<\/p>\n China controls around 85% of the global tungsten supply, leaving Western defence manufacturers alarmingly exposed. Yet, despite its military importance, the US has almost no domestic tungsten production. Over the past three years, the primary imports of the metal to the US have been from China (27%), Germany (14%), Bolivia (8%) and Vietnam (8%).<\/p>\n Black describes the situation as a supply chain vulnerability that has long been ignored: \u201cThe problem that the West faces is that there are very few tungsten options available. It was always an unwritten rule in our sector not to really weaponise or politicise tungsten, but it appears that China\u2019s strategy with tungsten is to starve Western consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pentagon has attempted to counter this through stockpiling and investment in alternative sources, but as Black warns: \u201cWe can produce the finest, technically advanced military equipment in the world, but without tungsten, we cannot produce anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Another crucial mineral in the defence sector is gallium, a component in advanced radar systems, missile guidance and electronic warfare.<\/p>\n A 2024 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) warns that China\u2019s decision to impose export restrictions on gallium has already disrupted Western defence manufacturers.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are 3,800 military uses for gallium \u2013 and there is only a small stockpile in the US and no domestic production,\u201d explains Harvey Kaye, director of US Critical Materials, which recently reported high concentrations of gallium (180\u2013385 parts per million) at its\u00a0Sheep Creek project<\/a>\u00a0in Montana, US.<\/p>\n With China accounting for more than 98% of global gallium production, the export restrictions imposed in 2024 have left US defence manufacturers scrambling.<\/p>\n While alternative sources exist, including Ukraine and\u00a0Greenland<\/a>, western nations seem years behind in building independent gallium supply chains. The consequences of this delay could be profound, with potential disruptions to the production of radar systems, electronic warfare capabilities and next-generation missile defence technologies.<\/p>\nTungsten: an indispensable metal of war<\/h2>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGallium: the silent engine of military electronics<\/h2>\n