LOTS: What the Pandemic Can Teach Us About Vulnerabilities in Our Defense Supply Chain.

America’s defense supply chain—that is, the large network of manufacturers who produce our weapons platforms and equipment—is neither reliable nor secure. Defense production is vital in maintaining a strong national defense, and such fragility in our supply chains is an enormous liability. It directly hinders our ability to win the next war.

Take for example, our supply chain for batteries. Numerous forms of military equipment are battery-powered, including night vision goggles, radios, and weapon optics. Complex platforms, from 5th generation stealth fighters to submarines, all use batteries.

Batteries will play an even bigger role in the future of military technology. The Army is considering adding electric vehicles into their fleet in order to reduce their dependency on fuel. The Marine Corps is testing miniature drones that can be launched from the underbelly of a rifle. The Air Force is looking to field a body-armor cooling system in order to combat extreme heat.

But all of these assets depend on batteries, and the production of batteries is currently dominated by China. The Chinese Communist Party has spent the last 20 years making investments to control every single stage of the advanced battery supply chain.

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