The Pentagon plans to award contracts to North American companies by year-end to recover gallium, a critical mineral used in advanced military radar systems, after China imposed export restrictions amid ongoing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Defense officials will use the Defense Production Act to fund projects that extract gallium from existing waste streams, Pentagon spokesman Jeff Jurgensen said. “Recovery, not mining, is the fastest way to make the materials more available in the US,” the statement noted, adding that Defense Production Act funds “have not been awarded for minerals recycling projects” previously.
Gallium is essential for Navy vessel radar used in air and missile defense, as well as Army and Marine Corps ground-based radar that detects rockets, artillery, and aerial threats. China recently announced export controls on both gallium and germanium, two minerals crucial to semiconductor manufacturing and defense applications.
According to a US Geological Survey cited by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, China is either the sole or a leading import source for 25 of 47 critical materials where America imports more than half its supply.
Though gallium represents a relatively small market compared to industrial metals like copper or aluminum, it plays an indispensable role in critical sectors including semiconductors, solar cells, and satellites — areas crucial to both economic and national security interests.
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