Unexpectedly, China has taken such heavy measures! A series of restrictions have been imposed at once! The Pentagon has been stunned, and the US defense industry is in despair.

On the afternoon of May 28 local time, according to a report by The New York Times, in response to East Asia's (EA) restrictions on key minerals and important materials, the Washington authorities have recently tightened export licenses for civilian aircraft engines, aviation electronics equipment, and related chip manufacturing materials, aiming to exert pressure on EA's civilian aviation industry and force it to open up in the export and smelting processing of core materials and key minerals to the US side.

However, local American media generally believe that this "void card-playing" pressure measure does not produce the effect anticipated by the US side. Before the US implemented export restrictions on aircraft engines and civilian aircraft electronic equipment to China, EA had already begun preparations and made deployments in the fields of aircraft engines, electronic equipment, and related materials. Therefore, the US attempt to exert pressure in these areas is akin to hitting a "cotton" target.

Nevertheless, why is the US so anxious to resort to such measures and attempt to pressure EA into lifting its restrictions on key minerals and core materials? In fact, we can find some clues from an article published by the US "War Zone" website on the afternoon of May 27. According to the "War Zone" website, all three extremely important anti-missile radar systems being developed by the US Department of Defense have encountered major setbacks.

1. The anti-missile radar system intended to expand the US military base in Guam has encountered significant development bottlenecks. Since January 2025, the US military has suspended the development work of the new generation AN/TPY-6 land-based anti-missile radar system. This radar model is a critical component of the new generation air defense and anti-missile systems to be deployed in Guam, Hawaii, US military bases in Japan, and overseas bases in the Philippines and Australia.

According to a report released by the US Congressional oversight agency in mid-May, all research and development work for the AN/TPY-6 radar, which is being developed by Lockheed Martin, has been indefinitely terminated.

2. Coincidentally, the first and second ships of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Type III, which have been launched for many years at large shipyards in the eastern United States, still do not have the AN/SPY-6(v)1 radar system installed by Raytheon Corporation. It is reported that this type of radar has been under development for at least 10 years, and the failure to install it previously has directly affected the development of the next-generation missile destroyer and other large surface warships of the US Navy.

3. More shockingly, the US Navy's new generation shipborne anti-missile radar AN/SPY-7(v)1 radar system, which serves as the prototype radar for the AN/TPY-6 land-based anti-missile radar, is also facing production problems.

Analysts point out that the simultaneous "difficulties in production" of these three high-end anti-missile radars indicate that the US is encountering major supply chain issues in the gallium nitride component sector. Simply put, due to a lack of sufficient gallium material, US defense companies are unable to mass-produce T/R modules and other components for the three radars: AN/TPY-6, AN/SPY-6(v)1, and AN/SPY-7(v)1.

Analysts believe that with the widespread application of gallium nitride devices in the new generation of anti-missile radar systems, these chips, which have higher operating temperatures and wider band gaps, not only operate faster but also have higher breakdown voltages. During the development of the T/R modules for anti-missile radars, they can be densely arranged, making the structure lighter and more compact compared to previous generations. In other words, they can significantly increase the radar aperture within a unit area, thereby doubling the radar performance.

In other words, as East Asia's restrictions on important core materials continue to advance, the US reserve of critical materials is dwindling, which in turn has caused a devastating impact on US defense companies. Currently, the US lacks enough materials to simultaneously meet the research and production of three large-scale anti-missile radars. This is sufficient proof that the US has been stunned by the combination of restrictions imposed by East Asia.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833461488054280/

Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.