From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

By Jake Smith

American defense startups are far too reliant on Chinese parts — and that poses a serious risk of exploitation by Beijing, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Business is booming as hundreds of defense startups have joined the growing U.S. military-industrial complex since 2021, according to The Wall Street Journal. But defense contractors are heavily dependent on China for parts for weapons systems, including motors, chips and rare earth minerals, which poses potential avenues for Beijing to exploit or hamper American technologies, experts told the DCNF.

“This is a serious problem for two reasons,” John Lee, senior defense expert at the Hudson Institute, told the DCNF. “First, as we saw during the pandemic, over-reliance on Chinese supply chains for components and inputs leaves countries and economies vulnerable to politically or policy-motivated restrictions being imposed by Beijing.”

“Second, components can have elements inserted into them without the knowledge of the end user. This could be spying equipment, channels for China to disable or damage the component from a distance, or even materials that can weaponize the component,” Lee said.

New defense contractors particularly rely on these parts because they don’t enjoy the same cash reserve that the industry giants do, and China makes and sells the parts for a cheaper price.

But these startups don’t want to be so reliant on China, given that the country is actively trying to undermine the U.S. and would likely be an adversary in a global war scenario, industry executives told the WSJ.

Decoupling from China-based entities proves difficult and expensive, defense startups told the WSJ, though it’s the only option in the long term.

“There’s a lot of lip-flapping about national security resilience manufacturing. But there’s no money for us to do this,” Scott Cololismo, CEO of defense startup LAND Energy, told the WSJ. LAND has some funding grants from the Pentagon, but needs more support to thrive, Colosimo explained.

The rare-earth minerals that China provides U.S. defense contractors — including neodymium, yttrium and samarium — are of particular value, given that they are essential for most high-tech military equipment, including laser and missile systems, jet engines, communications devices and even nuclear propulsion systems.

“Critical minerals are the building blocks for many of the most sensitive products in our defense industry,” Adam Savit, director of the China Policy Initiative at the America First Policy Initiative, told the DCNF. “China can abuse its dominant position in other critical mineral supply chains at any time.”

“The only long-term solution to this is to enact comprehensive permitting reform to approve domestic mining projects, and work with allied nations to develop new production when the U.S. lacks the relevant natural resources,” Savit said.

Savit’s warning that China can upset the supply chain of rare earth minerals also invokes a broader problem — China can cut the supply line for any of the parts needed by U.S. defense contractors, for any time or reason it chooses.

“If your supply chain runs dry, you have nothing to sell,” Ryan Beall, founder of drone manufacturer TILT Autonomy, told the WSJ.

‘It’s Alarming’: US-Funded Research Led To Over 1,000 Patents For China-Based Entitieshttps://t.co/tpr0NSD79X

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 30, 2024

Lee warned that the problem exposes the U.S. and West’s gaps in domestic supply chain capabilities for their respective defense industrial bases, which creates a vacuum that other actors like China find ways to exploit.

China supplies over 90% of the magnets used in motors for ships, missiles, satellites and drones, according to the WSJ. Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik and Rob Wittman sent a letter to an Air Force official last week and called the reliance on China “a serious national security threat,” pointing to an example in a report last year that found the Air Force increased its dependence on China for parts by 69%.

The idea to stop relying on China for resources became more popular after the COVID-19 pandemic, which created massive supply chain shortages in various sectors, including healthcare products. But in the defense capacity, it will take years to produce parts domestically, according to the WSJ.

“There has been a hollowing out of manufacturing and industrial capabilities in the West which provides China with an enormous advantage,” Lee told the DCNF. “In the event of a crisis against a country such as China, this will become very dangerous for the U.S. and its allies.”

Unable to wait for domestic capabilities to improve and increasingly wary of buying from China, new defense contractors are turning to other alternatives for parts, according to the WSJ. Sourcing components from Mexico and Southeast Asia, utilizing 3-D printing and buying parts in bulk have been some of the creative ways contractors are solving the problem.

Industry experts also expect that the U.S. government is likely to restrict some Chinese parts used by contractors in a bid to move toward domestic capabilities, according to the WSJ. Some restrictions on items used to produce cameras and radios already exist.

“If the government wants a U.S. supply chain, that’s fine, but they need to be clear about their requirements, and they need to pay for it,” Beall told the WSJ.

Featured Image: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau

From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

By Jake Smith

Israel had reportedly warned that it would go after Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities if Tehran decided to launch an attack, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Iran launched hundreds of missiles into Israeli territory on Tuesday in what is being considered a major escalation in a region already fraught with conflict. Tehran signaled to Arab officials on Monday evening its plans for the strike, which it said would be similar to an attack carried out in April that involved launching hundreds of drones and missiles into Israel, according to Arab officials speaking to the WSJ.

Israel responded Monday by warning Tehran that if it did carry out an attack — regardless of size or scope, or whether it involved casualties — it would directly strike Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities, Arab officials told the WSJ.

An Iranian missile exploded near the Mossad headquarters, located on the northern outskirts of Tel Aviv.https://t.co/8L5e2KsIeC pic.twitter.com/m9YCPHEjx3

— Aric Toler (@AricToler) October 1, 2024

Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday was largely intercepted by Israeli and U.S. forces postured in the region, but some projectiles evaded air defense systems and struck targets throughout the country. There has been at least one casualty reported thus far in the West Bank, but no casualties reported in Israel.

Israel has yet to respond but said in a statement on Tuesday that there would “be consequences.”

“Iran’s attack is a severe and dangerous escalation,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said. “Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest of readiness. Our operational plans are ready. We will respond wherever, whenever and however we choose.”

After-action assessments are still being conducted, and it’s too early to say how the conflict may evolve from this point, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday.

“There are initial assessments. But we need time to collect all of the information, and we need time to talk to our Israeli counterparts. And we need time to talk to our other partners in the region,” Miller said. “And we’ll do that over the coming days. But it is clear that, once again, this is a significant escalation by Iran.”

Miller declined to comment on whether Iran’s nuclear site was a legitimate target for an Israeli strike.

“I don’t want to get into — and this is not to say I’m ruling anything out, and that I’m ruling anything in — but I would answer any question this way, which is: We wanna have these conversations with our Israeli counterparts over the coming days. It is clear that this is an unacceptable attack [by Iran]… there will be consequences.”

The current conflict began roughly a year ago when Hamas invaded Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people. Israel subsequently launched a war against Hamas in Gaza, and as the war has increased in size and scale, Iran and its other proxy terrorist groups like Hezbollah have gotten involved.

Iran’s strike on Tuesday is rare; it typically conducts military or terrorism operations through its various proxy groups. Tehran did launch a separate series of strikes against Israel in April, although Tuesday’s strike was seen as more expansive.