The Foundational Metal of War: Aluminum, the Middle East War, and America’s Strategic Vulnerability

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Macdonald Amoah, and Senior Research Associate Jahara Matisek write about how the US military has an aluminum problem. It arises not from the metal’s rarity, but its presence everywhere;  and yet aluminum is largely overlooked as a critical defense mineral, even though militaries are utterly dependent on a steady supply of it.  April 10, 2026.