The military operation in Iran has dealt a serious blow to U.S. weapons stockpiles and pushed Washington into an urgent search for new sources of tungsten, NBC News reports.

Tungsten is one of the most important metals for the defense industry. It is used in fighter jets, bombs, missile systems and other weapons. According to NBC News, the metal is considered almost irreplaceable for U.S. national defense.

The problem for Washington is that the United States has not had a single commercial tungsten mine in operation since 2015. Restoring domestic production quickly is also unlikely: the sector has been idle for years, and much of the necessary expertise has been lost.

Against this backdrop, U.S. authorities are trying to reduce dependence on supplies from China, which remains the global leader in tungsten processing and production.

NBC News notes that China’s dominance in this field took shape over decades, helped by state subsidies, cheap labor and looser regulation. Today, China produces more than 80 percent of the world’s tungsten and consumes over half of global output.

The United States, by contrast, relies mainly on recycling and remains heavily dependent on imports. According to the U. S. Geological Survey, the country needs more than 6,000 tons of tungsten a year. In 2025, amid a trade confrontation with Washington, Beijing introduced export controls on rare earth and critical minerals, including tungsten, which pushed prices higher.

Tungsten’s value lies in its exceptional physical properties. It has the highest melting point of any metal: 3,410 degrees Celsius. It boils at 5,500 degrees Celsius, a temperature comparable to the surface of the Sun. The metal is also highly dense and extremely hard.

Those characteristics make tungsten especially valuable for the military sector. Its alloys are used as cores in armor-piercing ammunition, allowing shells to penetrate armor. Tungsten is also used in aircraft, missile systems and other military equipment where high mass is needed in a compact form.