A report by the American Defense News website, which specializes in military matters, revealed that the United States is highly dependent on China and Russia in its ammunition supply chain.
According to the report, in recent years the United States has relied heavily on China and Russia to buy a precious metal needed for the manufacture of ammunition, and there has been talk of “antimony metal.”
Metallic antimony is essential in the industrial supply chain of defense and is required to manufacture everything from ammunition and explosives to armor to nuclear weapons, as well as other military equipment such as night vision goggles. .
Antimony is now a priority in Congressional efforts to support the strategic reserve for rare earth minerals, known as the National Defense Reserve. The inventory includes many other metals important in the defense industrial supply chain, such as titanium, tungsten, cobalt, and lithium.
According to a source, the United States ran out of antimony stocks in the 1990s and now imports mainly from China, Russia and Tajikistan.
“The House Armed Services Committee is concerned about the recent geopolitical dynamics in Russia and China and how it can accelerate supply chain disruptions, particularly in antimony,” the report said.
Source: “Defense News”
Source: Arabic RT
