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National Defense Stockpile backstops US critical material needs

By Jeremiah Cushman |

An army aviator wearing AN/AVS-6(V)3 ANVIS night-vision goggles. DLA operates a programme to recycle germanium from old night-vision goggles. (ITT Night Vision)

The United States stockpiles critical and strategic materials to support defence and essential civilian production in the event of a crisis. The Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials (DLA-SM) office oversees the National Defense Stockpile (NDS), which is intended to reduce “dependence on foreign sources or single points of failure of strategic and critical materials specifically during times of national emergency”, Theresa Leland, deputy administrator for DLA-SM, said during an online conference on Critical Minerals and National Security hosted by the US Naval War College on 10 January.

“These excess inventories reduce our risk from unanticipated demand spikes or supply chain disruptions, essentially acting as shock absorbers for the supply chain,” Adam Burstein, technical director for strategic and critical materials under the assistant secretary of defence for industrial base policy (ASD[IBP]), noted during the conference. “We are focusing on embracing an expanded approach to stockpile and inventory planning … we know the target stock levels for strategic and critical materials will depend on mineral extraction, recycling, and material science infrastructure and supply base.”

Reserves can be released in an emergency to “keep key production lines operating until long-term supply lines can be restored”, he said. “A strong stockpile can also deter adversaries who may otherwise consider trying to disrupt supply. If our adversaries know that their efforts will only have limited effect, they are less likely to antagonise us,” Burstein added. “A stockpile that is co-ordinated with stakeholders across the US government can maximise the impact of US policy efforts to build resilient supply chains by sending the strong demand signals to secure suppliers that help bring down risk that is off-putting to potential investors.”

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