The Pentagon announced a $450 million investment Monday in The Elmet Group to expand U.S. tungsten processing capacity, a move aimed at strengthening the defense industrial base as the Iran war puts added pressure on military supply chains.
“This investment reflects the Department’s commitment to rebuilding critical industrial capacity in the United States,” assistant Secretary of War for industrial base policy Mike Cadenazzi wrote in a statement. “Expanding domestic tungsten processing will strengthen supply chain resilience, support high-quality manufacturing jobs, and reinforce the production base behind essential defense systems.”
The investment will support production of tungsten and molybdenum, materials used across missiles, munitions, submarines, aircraft and other weapons systems.
Elmet supports more than 100 defense programs, including the F-35, Patriot PAC-3, Trident D5, Precision Strike Missile and Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines.
“The Economic Defense Unit was created to identify critical industrial chokepoints before adversaries can exploit them and before they become battlefield risk,” Economic Defense Unit Director George K. Kollitides II said.
“Tungsten is essential to the systems that protect American warfighters and sustain deterrence, and this investment helps secure a domestic processing capability the United States cannot afford to leave exposed. By pairing targeted Department support with a disciplined preferred equity structure, we are strengthening the supply chain behind more than 100 defense programs while protecting taxpayers and delivering for the joint force.”
The funding will also establish what the department said will be the only independent ammonium paratungstate facility in North America, addressing a major processing bottleneck.
U.S. officials said China currently dominates global supply of both materials, accounting for an estimated 85% of tungsten and 40% of molybdenum.