China Is Beating the US in the Rare-Earths Game

For more information regarding China and the rare earths situation, see the following previous articles:

• US defense industry over-reliant on rare earth from China
• Rare Earths Rouse Pentagon Fears
• Rare-Earth Market
• China warns of backlash if U.S. presses rare-earths case with WTO
• China Preparing for Drone Warfare
• Report: US military too reliant on foreign suppliers
• China’s Drone Swarms Rise to Challenge US Power
• China Threatens to Pull Pin on Global Economic Hand Grenade

 

 

It’s time for the administration to use its powers to preserve America’s access to vital defense materials.

How to view China’s recent threat to limit domestic production of rare earths, those 16 elements that make our cellphones and smart bombs work? It’s the latest move in a game that began before the United States realized it was even playing, that has grown more complex than U.S. leaders realize, and that is nearing a very unfortunate ending.

China’s Drone Swarms Rise to Challenge US Power

Being that China produces and controls more than 95% of the world’s rare earth materials, it’s not unthinkable that they would be able to crank out thousands of drones.

China is building one of the world’s largest drone fleets aimed at expanding its military reach in the Pacific and swarming U.S. Navy carriers in the unlikely event of a war, according to a new report.

The Chinese military — known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) — envisions its drone swarms scouting out battlefields, guiding missile strikes and overwhelming opponents through sheer numbers. China’s military-industrial complex has created a wide array of homegrown drones to accomplish those goals over the past decade, according to the report released by the Project 2049 Institute on March 11.

“The PLA now fields one of the world’s most expansive UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] fleets,” said Ian Easton and L.C. Russell Hsiao, researchers at the Project 2049 Institute and authors of the new report.