America’s defense strength begins long before a missile is assembled or an artillery round leaves the line. It begins in the mine, the mill, the refinery and the factory. Minerals are the foundation of modern military readiness, and with attention focused on Iran, missile defense and munitions production, that truth is more relevant than ever. The Department of War is unambiguous: minerals are key to virtually every major defense system, from jet fighters to unmanned aircraft and submarines. Securing the supply chains that feed those systems is a national security imperative.
A Stronger Arsenal Starts with Stronger Supply Chains
The scale of what the Pentagon now requires is remarkable. After investing nearly $5 billion across fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024 to expand munitions production capabilities, the U.S. Army is working toward a goal of 100,000 complete 155mm artillery rounds per month by 2026, up from about 14,000 when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. Maj. Gen. John Reim, the Army’s Joint Program Executive Officer for Armaments and Ammunition, has called the current effort the largest investment in infrastructure and munitions production since World War II.
On the missile defense side, Lockheed Martin and the Department of Defense reached a seven-year framework agreement in January 2026 to more than triple annual PAC-3 MSE interceptor production capacity by the end of 2030, from approximately 600 units to 2,000. Numbers like these should sharpen attention on the mineral inputs required to make that scale possible. That is where the United States still faces real exposure. According to the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025, the U.S. was 100 percent net import reliant for 12 of the 50 individually listed critical minerals in 2024, and more than 50 percent net import reliant for another 28 critical mineral commodities.
China was the leading producing country for 30 of the 44 critical minerals for which USGS reported reliable estimates, including about 83 percent of global tungsten mine production, 99 percent of worldwide primary low-purity gallium production, and roughly 69 percent of rare earths mine production in 2024.
The Minerals Behind Munitions and Missile Defense
Antimony is the clearest example of how mineral vulnerability translates directly into defense risk. In December 2024, China banned antimony exports to the United States. The stakes are high. The U.S. Army says antimony trisulfide is used in nearly 30 percent of military ammunition items, mainly in primers. Primers are the small explosive components at the base of a cartridge or artillery shell that initiates combustion.
The Department of War has backed Perpetua Resource’s Idaho Stibnite project to help restore a domestic source of antimony critical to U.S. ammunition production, and construction at the Stibnite project began in October 2025. Gallium and rare earths tell a similar story. The U.S. was 100 percent import reliant for gallium in 2024, and rare earth import reliance stood at 80 percent. In February 2025, China also added export controls on tungsten, which it dominates globally and is used in armor-piercing projectiles. These are not abstract vulnerabilities. They bear directly on America’s ability to expand the defense systems now in demand.
Washington is Moving and America Should Move Faster
Policymakers are acting with greater urgency than ever before. In January 2025, the White House directed the Secretary of War to ensure the National Defense Stockpile can provide a robust supply of critical minerals in the event of a future shortfall, and in February 2026 it launched Project Vault, establishing a U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve. But the challenge ahead is not stockpiling alone. It requires steady domestic production, processing infrastructure, skilled workers, and durable coordination between government and industry.
American Mining is Ready to Answer the Call
The United States has substantial mineral resources, world-class miners, deep capital markets and a national imperative that grows clearer with every headline about missile defense and munitions. New munitions facilities are opening. The policy and investment signals are pointing in the right direction.
Defense supply chains are only as strong as the mineral supply chains beneath them. If America wants a stronger arsenal and a defense industrial base ready for the demands of this decade, the path forward runs through American mines, American mills and American workers. That’s where strength has always started, and it’s where it will be secured again.