Price Soars 60-Fold in Just One Year! Where Does the Future Lie for Samarium, the Backbone of U.S. Advanced Weapons?

In August, internal warning data from the U.S. Department of Defense, revealed by The Wall Street Journal, uncovered a "crisis corner" in the U.S. military-industrial sector: the price of samarium—a critical rare earth element supporting advanced weapons systems such as the F-35 fighter jet—has skyrocketed by 60 times in a single year. Additionally, the overall cost of some core raw materials has surged by more than 5 times. This data has plunged the U.S. military-industrial field into anxiety, with the production progress of advanced equipment feared to face significant delays.

Though seemingly unremarkable, samarium is the "heart-level material" for U.S. advanced weapons. Take the F-35 fighter jet as an example: the high-performance magnets in its engine are inseparable from samarium. This material ensures the engine operates stably under extreme high-temperature conditions, directly determining the aircraft’s flight performance and reliability. Beyond the F-35, samarium is also relied on to guarantee precision and stability in systems like the U.S. Patriot missile guidance system and intercontinental missile inertial navigation equipment, making it the "invisible pillar" of the U.S. military-industrial system.

Today, the surge in samarium prices has dealt a heavy blow to U.S. military-industrial enterprises. Multiple manufacturers supplying the U.S. military have reported that the sharp increase in raw material costs has led to severe overspending on production budgets, with some small and medium-sized enterprises even trapped in a dilemma where "production equals losses." More troublesome is that the cost surge has triggered a chain reaction in the supply chain: a manufacturer responsible for supplying F-35 aircraft components disclosed that due to excessively high samarium prices, the procurement cycle for key magnets has been extended, delaying the delivery of originally planned components by nearly a month. Other military-industrial enterprises have stated that if samarium prices remain at a high level, the subsequent F-35 production line may face the risk of phased shutdowns.

From a data perspective, it is inevitable that the production progress of U.S. advanced equipment will be affected. Internal assessments by the U.S. Department of Defense show that after the cost of core raw materials like samarium rose by more than 5 times, the unit production cost of the F-35 fighter jet increased by approximately $800,000, and the delivery time for subsequent orders may be delayed by an average of 2 to 3 months. Furthermore, other U.S. military weapon systems dependent on samarium—such as radar components for new destroyers and power modules for drones—have also experienced varying degrees of production delays.

Behind this samarium price crisis lies an imbalance in the global rare earth supply chain. As a key link in the global rare earth industry chain, China holds a core position in areas such as rare earth purification and deep processing. In contrast, the U.S. has long relied on external supplies, with obvious shortcomings in its own rare earth industry chain. Today, the surge in samarium prices not only exposes the U.S. military-industrial sector’s high dependence on external rare earth resources but also fully reveals the "weak spot" in its advanced weapons production. In the future, if the U.S. fails to quickly address the shortcomings in its rare earth industry chain, this military-industrial production crisis triggered by samarium prices will likely continue to escalate.