The Critical Minerals Front of European Rearmament

Europe’s defence-industrial recovery will not be determined only by higher military budgets, new procurement programmes or the expansion of final assembly capacity.

It will also depend on whether European and allied industry can secure the upstream materials that make advanced defence production possible: rare earths for permanent magnets, gallium and germanium for high-performance electronics, titanium for aerospace structures, tungsten for ammunition and kinetic systems, and a wider set of strategic inputs embedded in sensors, radar, missiles, drones, satellites, naval platforms and propulsion systems.

This analysis answers: Which upstream materials (rare earths, gallium, germanium, titanium, tungsten) are critical to advanced European defence production? How does Chinese leverage over critical minerals create a defence materials problem for European rearmament? What regulatory core and implementation/bankability challenges shape securing these supply chains? What allied alternative architecture could reduce European dependence on non-allied mineral supplies?