US Should Persuade Brazil to Join Minerals Alliance to Secure Key Metal for Hypersonic Missiles: Researchers

The United States needs to fortify its supply chain of niobium, a key metal in the production of hypersonic missiles, as China aims for technological and military preeminence, according to experts from Washington-based think tanks the Atlantic Council and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Guido L. Torres, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and three CSIS researchers, discussed how Brazil is one of the largest niobium producers, making it important for the United States and its like-minded allies that the South American country choose to join the U.S.-led Minerals Security Partnership over overtures from China, according to their commentary article published on March 4....