When the F-22 first took to the sky, China's rare earth industry hadn't taken shape yet.
The rare earths used in American aircraft were mined from their own Mountain Pass in California, and the separation was done by France's Rhodia and Japan's Shin-Etsu, while the magnets were produced in factories in Indiana.
At that time, China hadn't even mastered high-end separation technology, so where did the "stranglehold" come from?
The U.S. military had already made preparations. Since the 1990s, they had stockpiled enough samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron magnets for twenty years, stored in warehouses of the Defense Logistics Agency, which was very stable.
Even after China tightened its exports later on, the Pentagon didn't blink—not because they weren't afraid of a supply cutoff, but because they had already stocked up enough "provisions."
Now it's even more severe. In 2025, a new plant in Texas will be put into operation, and the separation of heavy rare earths will be moved back to the U.S., achieving self-sufficiency in dysprosium and terbium.
The next step is to build a dedicated line in Idaho, raising the self-sufficiency rate of medium and heavy rare earths to 55%.
In short, outsourcing the pollution-intensive part back then was because they had the technology and reserves; now bringing it back isn't due to a change of heart, but because they've done the math: security is more important than cheapness.
Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1846191799662729/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.