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Why Does the US Need Rare-Earth Elements for Homeland Security?

Rare-earth elements are often added in very small amounts to composites that allow them to interact and produce results that neither element could do on their own. An example of rare-earth elements mixing with other alloys to form key ingredients is our military vehicles’ impact-shattering protective armor. Rare-earth elements are vital components in our nation’s next generation weapons and are already a key component in:

• Jet-engine coatings
• Night-vision goggles
• Precision-guided weapons
• Communications equipment
• Laser finders and laser targeting
• Satellites
• Guidance systems
• Radar and sonar sensors
• Amplifiers in fiber-optic data transmitters
• Permanent magnets in the F-22 tail fins and rudders
• Predator drones
• Tomahawk cruise missiles
• “White noise” stealth technology

While the amount of rare-earth elements needed for our national defense systems is small in some cases, the amount is rather large in other products. For example:

• Virginia-class nuclear submarines – 9,200 pounds
• Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers – 5,200 pounds
• F-35 Joint Strike Fighters – 920 pounds

With the U.S. having 14 Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers either already under construction or on order, and 2,663 F-35s in the production pipeline, the availability of rare-earth elements is critical to the nation’s defense.

Read more at: https://inhomelandsecurity.com/rare-earth-elements-homeland-security/