https://tankie.tube/videos/watch/7c80c68e-c970-4f4c-b3bc-eff9e1429965 China's export bans on rare earth metals and magnets are crippling Western arms makers. But while the Pentagon is racing to find new supplies and jump-start the decades-long process of replacing China in their supply chains, their biggest contractors have been sending most of their profits and cash to Wall Street investors. Order backlogs today are hundreds of billions of dollars, for each of the major weapons makers. The Pentagon, along with NATO and other friendly countries, are waiting years for new systems already ordered and paid for. Rather than re-invest necessary capital to build out manufacturing capacity, train and retrain top technicians, and fund new suppliers, companies spent tens of billions of dollars buying back their own shares, to push stock prices higher. Closing scene, Miao Village, Guizhou Resources and links: GAO, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Actions Needed to Address Late Deliveries and Improve Future Development https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107632 America Doesn’t Have Enough Weapons for a Major Conflict. These Workers Know Why. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/10/27/lockheed-martin-strike-orlando-weapons-missiles-00514386 EPA, Lean manufacturing at Lockheed Martin https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/lean/lockheed-martin_.html Due to the war in Ukraine, the U.S. informed Switzerland of delays in the delivery of new Patriot air defense systems https://www.zona-militar.com/en/2025/07/17/due-to-the-war-in-ukraine-the-u-s-informed-switzerland-of-delays-in-the-delivery-of-new-patriot-air-defense-systems/ F-35 stealth fighter deliveries have been falling farther and farther behind, watchdog finds https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-stealth-fighter-deliveries-have-been-falling-behind-watchdog-2025-9 RTX Board of Directors Increases Quarterly Cash Dividend https://raytheon.mediaroom.com/2024-05-02-RTX-Board-of-Directors-Increases-Quarterly-Cash-Dividend Raytheon Form 8-K, share buyback announcement https://investors.rtx.com/static-files/26fc7680-f4cb-46aa-9a31-2694743e5bed Forbes, America’s Carriers Rely on Chinese Chips, Our Depleted Munitions Too https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2024/01/09/americas-carriers-rely-on-chinese-chips-our-depleted-munitions-too/ Panic and production cuts at Pentagon suppliers as China tightens exports https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAyMVr2vorU China's new export ban on tungsten shocks defense contractors as Pentagon races to find new supply https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivdsyNvFq_8 Chinese factories build fire trucks for $400,000 in six weeks. In the US it's $2 million in 4 years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78nZ-JJNmzQ Wed, 08 Apr 2026 10:15:28 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://tankie.tube https://tankie.tube/lazy-static/avatars/3ba3ff73-a8b6-49c9-add8-9653ef090c7f.webp https://tankie.tube/videos/watch/7c80c68e-c970-4f4c-b3bc-eff9e1429965 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://tankie.tube/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.