There is a kind of resource, whether our country or the United States, which is also a superpower, that is particularly important, even to the extent that it can influence the development of the country, and is used in various sophisticated fields, especially in the military field. For ordinary people, those complicated technical terms may sound obscure, but the number of aircraft cannons is the most intuitive proof.

In fact, it is not just aircraft cannon, but all modern industrial development must use this nearly universal resource rare earth.
What exactly is rare earth? Why can't every industry be separated from this powerful resource? Without rare earths, what does the United States rely on to create strong military strength? What can we rely on to build a large number of aircraft and missiles?
First of all, let's talk about what rare earth is. In fact, rare earth is a combination of many kinds of elements of the same family. Specifically, it is the sum of the lanthanide, scandium and yttrium in the periodic table. At present, there are 250 kinds of rare earth minerals in the world. No matter a few centuries ago or today when the world is undergoing great changes, they are all very precious "earth".
Looking at the world, which countries have such precious resources? It is mainly our country, India and the United States, but the United States is the country most unwilling to mine its own rare earths, and has always been "sealed off".
In January this year, our country released the Regulations on the Administration of Rare Earth (Draft for Soliciting Opinions), which formally clarified that the export of our country's rare earth resources will be restricted. This is mainly due to two reasons. One is that we also have huge demand. In addition, this resource is non renewable, and we will certainly establish our own strategic reserve of rare earth.
Since our country restricts the supply of rare earths and our country does not export rare earths, what is the United States thinking and doing at this moment? Are there any relevant measures?
As the United States, which is the least interested in mining its own rare earth resources, the policy of sealing off rather than mining has a long history, which is much earlier than that of our country.
Although this is the case in the United States now, it is not the case in history. In fact, during the Second Industrial Revolution, the United States had already begun to collect its own rare earth industry, and in the decades after World War II, the United States quickly became the world's largest supplier of rare earth.
At that time, the rare earth mines in the Montampas area of the United States had met more than half of the global demand. However, since the 1980s, they began to decline. By 2002, they had been completely closed.
Soon after, the government also announced that it would no longer mine and refine rare earth elements, and the rest would be sealed up. Since then, the rare earth resources of the United States have basically been imported from our country, but now our country's rare earth resources are also facing a crisis. At present, the proven reserves of our country are less than 40% of the global total. In contrast, the proven reserves of the United States account for 13% of the global total, ranking third in the world.
After knowing the situation of rare earth resources, let's have a look. What will happen to the United States without rare earth?
If this happens, it will be difficult to produce aircraft, missiles and some space equipment normally. This is a very dangerous signal for a large country.
According to the data released by Lockheed Martin, a famous F-35 series stealth fighter requires 417 kg of rare earth elements in the production process. At present, more than 400 F-35 series stealth fighters are in service in the U.S. military, and the consumption of rare earth resources is huge. In addition, fighter planes, missiles and aerospace will be built again in the future, Therefore, the reserve of rare earth is also very important.
According to the plan of the US military, we will continue to produce more F-35 series stealth fighters to replace them. The FA-18 "Bumblebee" carrier aircraft and the F-16 "Fighting Falcon" multi-purpose fighter aircraft, which are about to retire, will be empty talk if there is no rare earth resources.
The military demand is very large, and the industrial production demand is also very large. In addition, another analysis is from the US think tank. It will take 15 years for the US to achieve self-sufficiency in rare earth resources.
15 years is not long, but what can fill the gap? Moreover, the mining process of rare earth resources is very complicated, so it was decided to announce the re mining at this time, with a recovery period of 50 years.
Besides the time problem, there is another difficulty that needs to be broken through in the local area. That is, the United States has the largest reserves of rare earths, but they are all "fake rare earths". What is "fake rare earths"? Rare earth is a naturally occurring element. How can it be true or false?
In fact, it is not true that rare earth elements are fake. After all, rare earth elements are not jade in our country. There is also a difference between real and fake. The reason why the United States is a fake rare earth is that rare earth resources are divided into three categories: light rare earth, medium rare earth and heavy rare earth, each of which includes seven or eight elements.
So many elements will not be introduced one by one. In a more understandable way, light rare earth can be sold for 3000 yuan per ton, and heavy rare earth can be sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan per ton. The difference can be seen from the price alone, but the price is only one aspect.
In the large family of rare earth elements, heavy rare earth elements are more rare, and more are used in more high-end technology fields, especially the weapons and equipment of the United States, which need heavy rare earth elements more. While the heavy rare earth resources are located in the east of the Asian continent, our country has a lot of heavy rare earth resources, and they are also under control at the moment. However, the heavy rare earth resources in the United States are less, and more are light rare earth. The United States still has a large import demand for heavy rare earth.
In terms of the current world pattern, having resources means having everything. From the perspective of rare earth resources, we have mastered a very important and critical link, which is also the basis for us to become a strong country. However, our country has lost a lot of resources, so it is natural to take restrictions and management to ensure that these non renewable strategic resources are better protected.
And with these resources, our future is more promising. What we should consider is how to protect resources and increase strategic reserves. What will be done when the rare earth reserves of the United States are insufficient?