To rebuild America's arsenal, rehabilitate the National Defense Stockpile—and prioritize critical munitions

To arm American allies and companions—and guarantee U.S. armed forces can deter and battle a significant theater struggle—america should rehabilitate the largely obscure Nationwide Protection Stockpile and concentrate on important munitions. Based mostly in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with operations all through america, the stockpile holds an emergency provide of fifty important minerals. Many, reminiscent of aluminum, titanium, magnesium, and electrical metal, are used within the manufacturing of munitions, and that is the place the heaviest focus must be positioned.

A important munitions reserve throughout the nationwide stockpile would restore important munitions shares important for sustaining air dominance, conducting interdiction operations, defending towards air and missile threats, and focusing on arduous and deeply buried goals. Consequently, this repository ought to embody Lengthy Vary Anti-Ship Missiles, Precision Strike Missiles, Prolonged Vary Joint Air-to-Floor Standoff Missiles, and 155mm artillery shells. 

The stockpile would assist maintain American industrial output in instances of disaster and protect america’ international navy edge. Proper now, the cabinet is sort of empty. 

Ukraine is depleting Western reserves

Washington’s assist to Ukraine, whose forces are firing greater than 6,000 artillery rounds a day, contains munitions pulled from the Pentagon’s inventory. However as many have famous, this attracts down high-end munitions the U.S. would desperately want in a battle with China. In such a struggle, the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research just lately concluded, the U.S. would possible burn by way of its munitions inside three weeks and can be unable to replenish these shares for greater than six months. 

A limiting consider wartime replenishment can be provides of important supplies. Ought to a struggle get away with China, america would shortly burn by way of its shares of uncommon earth parts. The state of affairs can be even worse if China has used its near-monopoly on uncommon earths to additional constrict the circulate of those important supplies to U.S. weapons producers. The USA stockpile of dysprosium and europium, utilized in a number of missiles lessons, are fully empty. Worse, america has virtually no capability to domestically manufacture important strategic supplies, whereas the intricate provide chain for uncommon earth parts has predominantly shifted past its borders.

To satisfy the problem, it’s time to revive the Chilly Warfare relic of the Nationwide Protection Stockpile. Valued at $42 billion in 1952, the worth of supplies in stockpile has drastically decreased to lower than $1 billion at the moment. Furthermore, America’s mineral reserves are far decrease than China’s, with the U.S. sustaining solely 300 metric tons of cobalt to China’s 7,000 metric tons. 

In preparation for extended conflicts and unpredictable market fluctuations reminiscent of delays in home refining initiatives, it’s crucial that the stockpile holds ample reserves of important minerals to cowl three years of U.S. demand. The U.S. authorities acknowledges 50 minerals as “important,” necessitating the stockpile to be outfitted for potential wartime eventualities and the following substitute of navy assets inside three years after a battle. 

The Protection Logistics Company ought to prioritize stocking important minerals most important for the munitions of possible use in a U.S.-China battle—once more, LRASMs, PSMs, JASSM-ERs, and 155mm artillery shells.

However the important munitions stockpile not solely wants extra in it, it wants extra of it. Amassing such in depth reserves, particularly for high-consumption minerals like aluminum, presents logistical challenges given the restricted storage amenities. The present Nationwide Protection Stockpile is held in a paltry six depots, most of that are full or near-full. In the course of the Chilly Warfare, nevertheless, the U.S. managed 102 depots containing 92 important supplies. Enlargement to those ranges just isn’t crucial, however the Protection Logistics Company should construct out extra storage infrastructure. 

The PROCURE Act, launched by a bipartisan group of senators, would go a good distance towards constructing this stockpile, by establishing a $500 million per 12 months revolving fund within the Treasury Division for the Pentagon to acquire important munitions. This fund would permit the Protection Division to swiftly replenish high-demand munitions provided to associate nations in future conflicts, utilizing income from the U.S. Overseas Army Gross sales program. 

Our munitions stockpiles and manufacturing capability will not be simply insufficient; they’re a obvious vulnerability in our nationwide protection technique. We should act with resolve and urgency to revitalize our protection industrial base and develop our reservoir of munitions-production minerals. Nothing lower than our nationwide pursuits and international stability are at stake.

Joe Buccino is a retired U.S. Military colonel. He served because the communications director for U.S. Central Command from April 2021 to July 2023.