The Pentagon sought new supplies of 13 critical minerals before strikes on Iran, highlighting the growing role of strategic metals in modern warfare.
📌 Key Takeaways
- The Pentagon sought new supplies of 13 critical minerals one day before strikes on Iran, signaling supply vulnerabilities.
- Many of the minerals — including germanium, tungsten and rare earth elements — are essential to missiles, jet engines and sensors.
- The U.S. remains import-dependent for many of them, often from China-dominated supply chains.
- Conflict and rearmament are increasingly tightening niche mineral markets already under pressure from the energy transition.
The Pentagon moved for minerals before the strikes
One day before the United States launched strikes on Iran, the Pentagon quietly moved to secure supplies of critical minerals, a document reviewed by Reuters showed.
The Defense Department asked companies in the Defense Industrial Base Consortium — a network of more than 1,500 firms and institutions — to submit proposals to supply or process 13 strategic minerals, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. Companies have until March 20 to submit projects, which could receive between $100 million and $500 million in funding.
The request targeted a cluster of obscure but strategically vital materials including germanium, tungsten, graphite, hafnium, yttrium, samarium and zirconium, all used across weapons systems, aerospace components and advanced electronics.
The timing matters. The request was issued one day before military action against Iran, highlighting how mineral supply chains are increasingly embedded in defense planning.
Modern warfare runs on obscure metals
The minerals on the Pentagon’s list rarely appear in commodity headlines, but they sit deep inside modern military hardware.
Germanium is essential for infrared optics and satellite imaging systems. Tungsten hardens alloys used in armor-piercing ammunition. Yttrium is used in thermal barrier coatings that prevent turbine blades inside jet engines from melting during flight.
Without those coatings, jet engines cannot safely operate — a reminder that defense readiness increasingly depends on niche materials with fragile supply chains.
Many of these markets are extremely small. A disruption in supply, or a surge in demand, can quickly move prices.
The supply problem: concentration
The strategic concern for Washington is not just demand. It is where the minerals come from.
The United States remains heavily reliant on imports for many of the materials on the Pentagon’s list. Several — including germanium, graphite and rare earth elements — are produced or processed predominantly in China.
That concentration has already become a geopolitical lever. Beijing has imposed export restrictions on several critical materials in recent years, including gallium and germanium, highlighting how mineral supply can be used as economic pressure.
The Pentagon’s request effectively acknowledges that reality: the U.S. defense sector cannot rely indefinitely on overseas supply chains that run through geopolitical rivals.
War amplifies mineral demand
The Iran conflict itself may not directly disrupt mineral production. Iran is not a major supplier of most of the materials on the Pentagon’s list.
But war changes the demand equation.
Large-scale military operations accelerate the consumption of advanced electronics, precision-guided weapons, aerospace components and missile systems. Each depends on specialty metals.
Defense procurement can therefore create sudden spikes in demand across small commodity markets.
At the same time, governments entering wartime footing often begin to stockpile materials to secure future supply — a dynamic that can tighten markets even further.
A new driver for mining investment
For investors in mining and critical minerals, the Pentagon’s move highlights the ongoing structural shift.
Demand for strategic metals is no longer driven solely by the energy transition. It is increasingly tied to defense readiness.
That means three forces are now pulling simultaneously on the same supply chains: electrification, semiconductors and rearmament.
The Pentagon’s pre-strike scramble for minerals shows how seriously Washington is taking that challenge.
In the emerging geopolitical economy, mineral supply is becoming a national security asset — and wars are accelerating the race to secure it.