The U.S. Navy’s Subsea Rare Earth Vulnerability

AI Summary

The U.S. Navy's next-generation Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines depend heavily on rare earth elements refined in China for propulsion, stealth, and strike capabilities. This reliance creates a significant and under-discussed vulnerability in American nuclear deterrence.

The Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is the next generation of American nuclear deterrence. Twelve of these boats will replace the aging Ohio-class fleet, entering service over the 2030s and 2040s, each carrying 16 Trident IIs and driven by a ghost-quiet electric motor that renders them acoustically invisible to any adversary. What makes all of that possible — the propulsion, the stealth, the strike precision — depends almost entirely on rare earths refined in China. This is perhaps the Navy’s most consequential and least discussed vulnerability.The dependency runs through every layer of the capability stack. The sub’s permanent magnet motor requires The post The U.S. Navy’s Subsea Rare Earth Vulnerability appeared first on War on the Rocks.