Latest news with #ePropelled
Economic Times
04-08-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
The stealth war: How China is quietly squeezing the lifeline of US military technology through 'magnets'
TIL Creatives Representative AI Image China is tightening its grip on the minerals that power the Western world's most advanced weapons, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The controls aren't loud or flashy, but they're being felt in boardrooms, warehouses, and weapons factories across the United States. The Pentagon has already started to feel the strain. Missiles, fighter jets, radar systems, drones — all depend on a steady stream of materials like gallium, germanium, and rare earth magnets. And right now, that stream is being choked. In one example, a US drone component maker had its shipments of key Chinese-made magnets held up for weeks. Chinese suppliers had suddenly begun demanding detailed information about where the parts were going and how they'd be used. Chris Thompson, Vice President of Global Sales at ePropelled, said the company refused.'Of course we are not going to provide the Chinese government with that information,' Chris Thompson told a result, the magnets stopped arriving. Production delays followed. ET has not been able to independently verify these claims. These minerals aren't obscure. They're the building blocks of nearly every modern military is used in radar and satellite communications. Germanium is key for night vision and infrared imaging. Antimony is used in explosives and armour-piercing ammunition. Rare earth elements like neodymium and samarium are found in high-performance magnets, which power everything from missile guidance systems to drone propulsion and F-35 flight like dysprosium and terbium, are essential for heat-resistant alloys in jet engines. Others, like gadolinium, are critical for sonar and underwater surveillance materials aren't just important, they're irreplaceable. Substitutes either don't exist or don't work nearly as the problem isn't just that China mines a lot of them. It's that China processes and refines most of the global supply. Even when the raw materials come from somewhere else, they often pass through Chinese refineries before reaching the production isn't just a one-off problem. The deeper you look, the more it becomes clear: America's defence supply chain is built on materials it doesn't a defence analytics firm, recently found that more than 80,000 parts used across Pentagon weapons systems rely on minerals now facing Chinese restrictions. In many cases, these supply chains include only one or two vendors, and nearly all of them are connected to China. 'We talk about this daily and our companies talk about it daily,' said Dak Hardwick, Aerospace Industries Association, as reported by WSJ. Leonardo DRS, a US military tech supplier, warned it's already down to its "safety stock" of germanium, a metal essential for missile infrared sensors.'In order to sustain timely product deliveries, material flow must improve in the second half,' said Lenardo DRS's CEO Bill Lynn during a conference call with WSJ. That's the reality. Without these minerals, weapons can't be built. Full control isn't just about rare earths. It includes antimony, used in explosives. Gallium and germanium, critical for semiconductors and optics. Samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, all found in advanced radar and targeting China blocked exports of germanium and gallium in late 2024, the market barely blinked at first. But by April 2025, it expanded the bans to cover seven more categories of rare earths. Prices spiked. Delivery times stretched out. In one case, a western buyer was quoted a rate 60 times above the usual market another, US Antimony Corporation had a shipment of 55 tonnes of Australian-mined antimony blocked at Ningbo port. It sat for three months before being sent back, with seals broken and no clear not supply chain risk. That's only one operational rare earths mine in the United States: Mountain Pass in California. While it's been scaling up output, refining remains a problem. Much of the ore it produces still ends up in China for Materials, which runs the mine, received over $400 million in US government funding to close that loop. But the gap between extraction and end-use is still has emerged as a possible new source of rare earths and titanium, with the US pushing to support its mining sector as part of postwar reconstruction. But experts are blunt about the timeline. 'Developing mine sites and sufficient infrastructure in the war-torn nation will take time, potentially decades,' said Aidan Knight, an associate analyst from GlobalData, as per a report by US Critical Minerals website. In the meantime, the Pentagon has invoked emergency powers under the Defence Production Act to fast-track domestic mining. DARPA is trying to predict global supply trends using modelling software. And companies like Charles River Analytics are being paid millions to map out alternative sourcing strategies. Still, none of this is fast. And none of it changes the fact that in 2024, China produced 750 out of 760 tonnes of primary gallium worldwide. The US produced is now the biggest factor. The Pentagon has ordered contractors to phase out all Chinese rare earth magnets by 2027. Most firms have a few months of stockpiles, at best. For smaller defence suppliers, that's not a transition, it's a cliff isn't the first time China has flexed its minerals. Back in 2010, it cut off rare earth exports to Japan over a maritime dispute. The move worked. Japan backed down. The message time, the target is wider. And the stakes are logic is simple. You can't build 21st-century weapons without 21st-century materials. If a missile guidance system needs gallium and there's no gallium, that missile doesn't get made. If a fighter jet needs neodymium magnets and none are arriving, the assembly line per a report by US Critical Minerals website, Lewis Black, CEO of Almonty Industries, which mines tungsten, put it plainly, 'We are trying to break that addiction [to Chinese supply] because… like all addictions, it is unhealthy. We cannot afford to go cold turkey because we are just not strong enough to do it."Until the addiction is broken, through new mines, new partnerships, and new infrastructure, Washington's military ambitions will remain dependent on decisions made in just a trade problem. A strategic vulnerability.
Miami Herald
08-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
ePropelled Targets the Micro-Small Drone Market With New Line of Propulsion Motors for Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles
Ultra-Light Sparrow Series Available Online to Support Worldwide Growth of Consumer and Professional Drone Sectors, in Addition to Military FPV Sector LACONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / ePropelled, a global leader in advanced propulsion and energy management technologies, is rolling out the Sparrow Series, an ultra-light, uncrewed motor system featuring long flight times combined with high power, efficiency and stability. The USA-made Sparrow Series includes high-performance models with power ratings from 380W to 960W for different voltage ranges designed to meet the demands of diverse uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) applications spanning the hobby and professional to commercial and defense segments. Designed with cutting-edge technology, Sparrow motors are compact and lightweight, offering a significant weight reduction in aircraft. This provides benefits, including enhanced thrust efficiency, longer flight ranges, and reduced operational costs. Combined with its two other UAV lines, Falcon and Hercules, ePropelled provides a wide range of propulsion technologies capable of meeting the rapidly expanding global marketplace for UAVs. With multiple motor and controller options included in the Sparrow Series, top applications include long-duration flights, aerial photography and mapping, surveillance, rescue, inspections, environmental monitoring and other industrial and commercial UAV operations. "Our Sparrow Series exemplifies ePropelled's commitment to innovation and excellence in USA-based propulsion technology. As the global regulatory landscape shifts, ePropelled provides cutting-edge drone solutions that not only meet the most stringent industry requirements, but also help our customers stay ahead of compliance challenges with products assembled in the U.S.," said Nick Grewal, ePropelled founder, Chairman and CEO. Because of their price point and versatility, the market for Sparrow motors also includes consumers interested in upgrading or updating UAV's with high-performance motors and controllers. To serve this market, ePropelled recently rolled out an online shopping option for Sparrow motors and controllers at and "The Sparrow Series lineup allows ePropelled to offer a spectrum of propulsion options that can now support backyard enthusiasts to larger commercial and military UAV users and integrators. We believe the Sparrow line is ideally suited for e-commerce buyers, and adding 24/7 access to ordering will help us more fully serve our customers in the U.S. and worldwide," said Chris Thompson, ePropelled Vice President of Global Sales. Few options exist for electric propulsion systems for smaller UAVs, and many "out of the box" systems do not match the performance and durability of the Sparrow Series - neither do they offer the integrated motor and controller solution. To date, customers have been forced to source motors and controllers from different manufacturers. Additionally, many of these products have traditionally been Chinese-made. China's regulators recently restricted Chinese manufacturers from exporting UAV propulsion components exceeding 16kW. This factor, combined with escalating restrictions by the U.S. government on Chinese-made drone devices, creates a critical need for non-China supplied alternatives in the global drone propulsion market. The global UAV propulsion systems market is expected to grow from $6.17 billion in 2024 to $8.19 billion by 2029, reflecting a CAGR of 5.84 percent, according to a recent report by Mordor Research. Additionally, the military sector, particularly for micro and small drones, is experiencing the fastest growth in the drone market, driven by increasing demand for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, as well as tactical operations and defense budgets. About ePropelledBased in Laconia, New Hampshire, USA, ePropelled, Inc. is a leading global technology provider specializing in smart propulsion and energy management systems for uncrewed vehicles for air, land and sea. Founded in 2018, ePropelled holds 67 patents and serves customers worldwide from its New Hampshire headquarters and manufacturing center, supported by R&D and operations facilities in the U.K. and India. ePropelled products are engineered to optimize performance, reduce energy consumption, and support the speedy transition to a sustainable future. For more information, contact ePropelled at info@ call 603-236-7444 or visit SOURCE: ePropelled, Inc. press release
