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The Trump administration is seeking investment pitches from domestic producers of metals used in fighter jets, night-vision goggles and tank armor.
The Defense Department’s Defense Industrial Base Consortium distributed a solicitation request to address gaps in homegrown production of indium, manganese, magnesium and titanium. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 17, according to the solicitation released Friday.
Eligible projects can include any part of the supply chain from mining, processing and refining to alloying and recycling. It’s the DIBC’s third investment solicitation involving critical minerals and advanced defense technologies since mid-2025.
Companies and entrepreneurs have been asked to submit a one-page PowerPoint slide with four quadrants concisely outlining their proposal. Those that pass onto the next phase will be required to submit more in-depth details such as as project-execution plans.
The solicitation didn’t disclose how much investment funding will be available. That is expected to become clearer as the fiscal 2027 defense budget is finalized, said Tripp Hornick, a government-funding specialist at Quince Street Strategy.
The four metals are listed by the US Geological Survey’s as critical minerals, which means they’re essential to economic or national security, and have supply chains vulnerable to disruption.
(By Grace Asenov)