Source: Observer Network Author: James Middot; Kennedy
The relative decline in US defense technology has declined, and the decline of its rare earth ability is synchronized.
This is a shocking story. The long -term economic and national security policy in the United States has also caused it to lag behind China on many next -generation weapon systems.
At the same time, China's progress is mainly due to its extraordinary efforts in the production, refining, materials science, metallurgy, intellectual property rights, research and development, and commercial and national defense applications in rare land resources.Rare earth includes 17 elements on the element cycle table, which are the key components of most modern technology and weapon systems.
The rare earth supply chain in the United States was first destroyed in 1980.The US Nuclear Management Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency modify relevant regulations mdash; mdash; part 40: PART 40: DOMESTIC LICENSING OF SOURCE MIRCE MITERIAL); mdash; inadvertently caused the US rare earth industry to fully transfer to China.
Prior to that, heavy rare earth comes from bombs with large products such as iron ore, titanium, vermiculite, or phosphate rock.At that time, the mining company could extract rare earth by -products and earn some additional profits.But later everything that containing crickets was regarded as a potential source of nuclear fuel and was highly controlled, and this business was broken.For cost and responsibility considerations, these mining companies attribute rare earth resources into tail mines and buried waste.
This has a far -reaching impact on rare earth production that follows the US Nuclear Management Commission or the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency.China is an observer state of the International Atomic Energy Agency, but it is not its contract.
Today, the gap between China and the United States is still continuing, partly because the Pentagon, government institutions, and financial and mining industries are measured at the level of mining and oxide production.Hundreds of rare earth mining projects were launched outside China, which made people think that the West's dependence on China's rare earth was declining.However, most projects failed in the end.
Of the more than 400 rare earth startups listed in 2012, only less than five have entered the production stage, and only two have reached a certain output.license.
During this period, China has obtained important equity and debt positions from many projects that have failed or endangered.Once the project starts production, China will control control.
In addition, only the policies of rare earth mining and purifying oxides were included in the report that distorted the government's policy, because these materials were almost unable to apply to the technology or national defense field before being refined into metal.Only China has refined ability.In fact, all rare earth mines outside China are shipped to China to China, and processed into rare earth metals, alloys, magnets and other high -value materials.
The United States is too focused on rare earth mining rather than the entire rare earth supply chain, which has a negative effect on its national security and economic security, because all national defense and technical applications start with rare earth humble metals or other post -oxides, not new mining ore or oxidation oxidationBest.China has locked globally to obtain rare earth metals, alloys, magnets, and most post -oxides.
In February 2016, the U.S. Government Accountability Agency issued a report on rare earth materials: Formulation of comprehensive means helps the Ministry of National Defense to better control the national security risk in the supply chain (Rare Earth Materials: Developing A Comprehensive Approach Could Help Dod Better ManageAlsec urgy risksIn the support chain).According to its estimates, the United States may take 15 years to rebuild the domestic rare earth supply chain.
The decision makers in the United States almost don't understand the complexity of these issues.If they tell them, as long as China choose to embargo, it is possible to shut down all countries, computers, smartphones, and aircraft assembly wilows in other countries, and they must be stunned.The same situation may also occur on all weapon systems that depend on rare earth in the United States and NATO.These supply chains can be cut off.Therefore, Western military procurement is under the control of China.
Nevertheless, the US government's reports and evaluations did not make the above judgments, because they both used rare earth mining and oxide production to replace all rare earths including metals, alloys, magnets, garnet, and other post -oxidesMaterial.Once the crisis broke out, the United States lacks emergency preparations.
The materials mentioned above have almost no reserves in the US Defense Logistics Bureau.The US government sold all rare earth strategic reserves from 1994 to 1998.The current strategic reserves of the National Defense Logistics Bureau are only a small amount of rare earth oxides and cricket metals.Materials of this form cannot be used directly for the US defense industry.According to the report of the government accountability bureau, these materials need to be processed by China's supply chain to be used.
All rare earth metals, alloys and magnets used by US defense contractors and technology companies can be traced back to China: if they are either directly from China, they are indirectly imported through Japanese procurement or US alloy and magnetic manufacturers.
In July 2014, the director of the US Department of Defense reported that the rare earth element guarantee procedure of the national defense industry needs to be improved. Effective levels and subcontractors are validMonitor rare earth investment.To make matters worse, it can be clearly seen from the report that the US Department of Defense does not distinguish between rare earth oxides and post -defense systems that cannot be applied to national defense, and no one has asked the source of these materials.
Why?Because when the US Department of Defense and other institutions evaluate the risk of supply security, they still use global rare earth oxide output as the foundation, ignoring the risks faced by the downstream manufacturing supply chain.
In the past ten years, members of Congress, the Ministry of Defense and the two governments have repeatedly received the alarm, but there are still too few people who really know the risks.
American decision makers firmly believe that technological leadership is the largest economic and national security advantage in the United States.But due to the rare earth, this has changed.Therefore, my Three consulting company investigated the rare earth patent application worldwide.The patent application volume can help us accurately evaluate China's next -generation weapon systems and other technologies listed in planning.
The following data comes from detailed national retrieval of international rare earth patents.The time range starts from the first submission of the first patent application until the last submission of August 2018.The retrieval results include more than 80,000 patents.Search keywords include rare earth, 镧, 镧, 铈, 镨, 钕, 钷, 钐, 钐, 铕, 钆, 铽, 镝, 铒, 铥, 镱, 钪, and 钇.
China only submitted an international rare earth patent application in 1983, and just after 14 years, China's relevant patent applications exceeded the United States and all other countries.As of August 2018, China ’s rare earth patent applications have accumulated 23,000 more than the United States.
We also found that since 2011, China ’s rare earth patent applications have exceeded the sum of other countries in the world each year.By early 2021, the number of rare earth patents accumulated in China will exceed the sum of other countries in the world.Chinese companies can destroy or abolish existing non -Chinese patents through legal strategies such as patent litigation and patent blockade.Compared with other countries in the world, China's patent applications are still accelerating, an increase of 250 % from 2011 to 2018.
In the past 40 years, whether in the manufacturing and industrial basic policy reports and submitted to the countryIn the Chinese threat report or information collection report, the US Department of Defense has never regarded China's rare earth production and the number of rare earth patents as the target of serious concerns.
A report that the White House recently ordered to write was finally acknowledged this problem.Made in the United States, the national defense industry foundation and supply chain elasticity assessment and strengthening (Assession and Streangthening the Manufacturn and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliation States), China ’s strategic key materials related to national security constitute a significant and continuousRisk of raising.
For the US Department of Defense and the national defense contractor, it can be said to be smooth in the past few decades: more and more budgets, and the stock price is getting higher and higher.However, China has laid the foundation for surpassing and replacing the West during this period.Beijing has always provided direct or indirect funding to rare earth research and implemented a technical transfer strategy. These efforts have been rewarded.
China's progress is rapidly changing global power, and it is in its own hands.Military experts said that the future directed Energy Weapons will rewrite or control the war.And each directional energy weapon requires the scientific capacity of heavy rare earth and high -end materials.China controls the US channels for obtaining these materials.These factors have led to advantages in this field, which means that China will eventually lead the world in the development and deployment of targeted weapons.
This is a bad news for experts from the Pentagon, because the core plan to maintain American security is based on the leading position of technology.China bravely crossed the threshold under the eyelids of the Pentagon's observer, but the latter turned a blind eye, darkened, and obviously there was no backup plan.
The relief of China's economic and defensive control of the United States has now been delivered to the Senate and the Federal Government.If the American political circles do not put down their internal resentment and restore governance, everything will be too late.
