Lockheed Seeks Domestic Mineral Supply Amid Trump Defense Supply-Chain Push

🏭 SUPPLY CHAIN — Lockheed needs domestic minerals fast; the strike tempo explains why. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Lockheed's push follows munitions constraint warnings that forced a US bombing pause weeks ago. Sourcing critical minerals domestically reduces vulnerability to Chinese export controls — Beijing controls ~80% of rare earth processing. With sustained CENTCOM operations straining stockpiles, this is war-economy logistics, not peacetime procurement. The variable that shifts next: production timelines for Hellfire and LRASM replenishment.