Military of China, force comment.
Military of China, force comment.

data for: rare earth ore

newspaper correspondent chapter Zhuo

U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee chairman, Democrat Ike Skelton, 14, said recently presided over the hearing will be dedicated to serious study of the defense industry China Rare Earth products rely on the issue. This requirement immediately support a number of Republican lawmakers. So, what kind of earth with what military value? The United States really a lack of rare earth resources?

U.S. touted “China Rare Earth”

U.S. “Business Week” website reported on April 15, this involves rare earth “political crisis” from the 14th Congressional Government Accountability Office released a research report. “Youth Reference” newspaper correspondent from the Office Web site, found a report entitled “Defense of rare earth materials in the supply chain,” the report found that its main purpose is to attack the Chinese tried to use the resources to control the world market supply and price of rare earth . Reported that the current heavy reliance on U.S. military weapons and equipment from China’s rare earth products, this trend has been to the U.S. military buildup adversely affected. As the report said China’s current domestic production quota system is taking to reduce export quotas, and increase export tax, which will lead to a global market of rare earth prices, while “impact on the rare earth materials for the United States.”

The report also said rare earth metals on the production of weapons and equipment in the United States has “irreplaceable” role in the U.S. as lanthanum, cerium, europium, gadolinium and other rare earth metals of the lack of, has been delayed for some weapons systems production cycle, including the future United States neodymium, dysprosium, terbium, including rare earth supply, will be fully subject to China. The report also believes that if the United States to re-establish rare earth supply chain, will take 15 years, and are subject to investment in infrastructure, development of new technology and the purchase of patent issues such as constraints.

report should be the requirements of Republican Rep. Mike Kaufman wrote. Kaufman in 2010, “National Defense Authorization Act,” added an amendment to require Congress’s Government Accountability Office on the supply of rare earths to provide advisory report. Kaufman February in an interview with Bloomberg news agency claimed that “China is very concerned about the U.S. advanced weapons system is very important rare earth resources, but China is not America’s allies, we must take before things go wrong response.”

cutting-edge weapons the U.S. military can not do without rare earth

rare earth lanthanide in the periodic table of chemical elements – lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, samarium, 15 elements, coupled with the Department of scandium and yttrium are closely related to a total of 17 elements, collectively referred to as REE (Rare Earth), referred to as the earth. Issue in American politics so much attention on the rare earth, rare earth in the military because of the wide range of applications. It can be said, no earth, can not manufacture a variety of high-tech weaponry.

example, “Patriot” missiles to intercept incoming missiles, is able to accurately, thanks to the guidance system used in about 4 kg of samarium cobalt magnets and neodymium magnets for electron beam is focused; “Raptor” fighter to achieve supersonic cruise capabilities, relying on the use of powerful special rare-earth materials, and light and strong body engine; United States to develop a reconnaissance, surveillance and early warning equipment, and also benefited from the rare-earth technology to create. In addition, anti-electromagnetic interference, mine exploration, satellite communications and other advanced equipment, but without the application of rare earth products.

U.S. Congress’s Government Accountability Office report showed that U.S. weapons systems in a large number of rare metals from China. Such as the “Abrams” tank navigation systems used in the samarium samarium cobalt magnets were purchased from China on; DDG-51 destroyers used by the hybrid electric drive system uses neodymium magnets purchased from China; “Aegis” system The SPY-1 radar is also used by the Chinese made of metal samarium samarium cobalt magnets.

rare earth resources in the United States is a big country

But the U.S. concern about China’s rare earth cutting-edge weapons production hurt the United States to say, from the fact it is not established. “Business Week,” the article said the United States is the world’s rare earth resources in the second country after China. But the United States for the protection of these resources, the largest rare earth mine in Mountain Pass mine sealed in 1998, the United States, molybdenum resource extraction has largely ceased, replaced by imports from China, a large number of rare earth products, increasing their inventory. In addition, the United States in the form of long-term contracts in other countries to seize the rare earth minerals. Thus, rare earth resources in the United States there is no shortage of problems. U.S. ready to earth the problem of political fuss, in fact, due to international market prices of rare cases, the weapon system manufacturing costs forced “gone.” This not only makes the Pentagon’s military burden, but also the U.S. military industrial interests.

order to protect the security of supply of rare metals, most countries have established a strategic metal reserves. The most typical is Japan, as early as the 1980s, it has gradually set up rare national reserve system, the formation of “Metal Mining,” to protect the security of supply of non-ferrous metal resources, a large number of other countries to buy precious metals to hoard, to prepare from time to time needs.

Chinese Ministry of Land and from 2007 began to control production of rare earth. Last September, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it would expedite the development of relevant policies and regulations, and actively promote “Rare Earth Industry Development Plan” and “Rare Earth Industry Development Policy” introduced, with the Ministry of Commerce to improve the export management system, improve the export quota of rare earth allocation, to prevent loss of resources.

Although China’s rare earth reserves more abundant, but non-renewable resources are of strategic materials, to strengthen its reserves, its mining, production and export of macro-control, is to safeguard the interests of national security and development issues the proper meaning. U.S. Congress that speculation Chinese rare earth production and export control, in fact, is to make a valuable strategic resource exports to China to meet U.S. demand for cutting-edge weapons. If you really do to China’s security interests of double jeopardy, on the one hand, China’s rare earth resources in less; the other hand, may be used against the U.S. military’s cutting-edge weapons to China increased.