On March 22, Deborah Rosenblum, who is performing the duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, visited MP Materials’ Mountain Pass, California production site to congratulate the team on their recent award of a $35 million Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment contract to build a Heavy Rare Earth Element (HREE) processing facility. National security and essential civilian markets require stable access to refined rare earth elements as these critical elements are used in a variety of defense applications, as well as electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other modern technology applications.
The Administration has highlighted, through Executive Order 14017, America’s Supply Chains, and other mechanisms, the need to increase domestic and like-minded nation processing capacity throughout the value-added rare earth element supply chain. This award is part of an ongoing collaboration with industry to increase the diversity and supply chain surety of the rare earth element supply chains vital to national security.
Ms. Rosenblum, along with Dr. Vic Ramdass, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness, and other DoD Acquisition and Sustainment leaders also visited key California participants in the defense microelectronics supply chain. The Defense Microelectronics Activity plays a vital role as a trusted technical resource for microelectronics solutions within the Department of Defense. NextFlex is one of nine Manufacturing Innovation Institutes who established, leads, and nurtures the advanced manufacturing ecosystems for hybrid electronics.
This trip provided the opportunity for Ms. Rosenblum and the team to interact with key stakeholders responsible for addressing some of the most challenging supply chain issues facing the U.S.
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