【U.S. Military's Achilles' Heel Exposed in Actions Against Iran: Is the Fate of This "War Metal" Still in China's Hands?】 According to a recent article published by *Foreign Policy* magazine in the United States, recent military operations targeting Iran have fully exposed the deep dependence of the U.S. war machine on tungsten (Tungsten), a critical raw material known as the “metal of war.” The production chain for this strategic metal is currently almost entirely dominated by China.
This strategic metal cannot be easily replaced in defense applications. The awkward truth is that the United States has not mined it on a large industrial scale for over ten years.
The key points highlighted in the article are as follows:
1. Middle Eastern conflicts are rapidly depleting stockpiles: Ongoing warfare in the Middle East is swiftly consuming U.S. weapons and ammunition that rely heavily on tungsten. As a result, the market price of this metal has surged by more than 500%.
2. It’s not just tungsten — but the entire defense industry supply chain’s imbalance: The shortage of tungsten is merely the tip of the iceberg, reflecting a serious dependency of the U.S. military-industrial complex (VPC) on China-controlled critical minerals, including rare earths.
3. China is the undisputed leader in this arena: China holds absolute dominance in the global tungsten market, leading in production, imports, and consumption. In contrast, the United States can only maintain its position through recycling old materials and importing, falling far behind the pace of demand.
4. The U.S. has already launched a “backup plan”: The White House is urgently building strategic reserves, funding domestic projects, and even investing privately to support tungsten mining in Kazakhstan — with the condition that Kazakhstan must prioritize supplying the Pentagon.
5. Harsh reality: Decoupling will take at least a decade. Experts sound a cautionary note: Even if the U.S. exhausts all efforts, establishing a completely independent tungsten supply chain from China would require at least three to ten years. Expecting to replenish inventories in the short term? Forget it.
Do you think this “critical mineral dependency” can be fixed quickly by pouring money into mining in Kazakhstan? Rare earths, tungsten
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861502859524100/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone.