The US Army has selected Vulcan Elements to supply rare earth magnets for SkyFoundry, its initiative to develop and manufacture small drones in the US.
Vulcan’s neodymium-iron-boron magnets will be used in the electric motors that power the drones.
The magnets are destined for SkyFoundry’s small-drone production effort.
According to Vulcan, the US Army aims to produce one million drones a year at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania.
Vulcan Elements said its products met the army’s technical requirements and that the selection process included reviews of its manufacturing capability and record with existing customers.
The army required a fully domestic manufacturing process for the magnets.
Producing them involves sourcing rare earth materials, separating and refining those materials, and making the finished magnets.
China has long dominated those stages of production, making the materials’ source a concern for US defense production.
Beijing accounts for more than 70 percent of global rare earth extraction and 87 percent of processing, according to the US Geological Survey.
Expanding US Magnet Production
Vulcan’s army selection comes as the company builds a larger magnet factory in Benson, North Carolina.
The planned 1.1-million-square-foot (102,000-square-meter) facility is designed to produce 10,000 tons of magnets a year and employ about 1,000 people.
The expansion is part of a $1.4 billion financing plan announced in 2025 with the US government and ReElement Technologies.
Under the arrangement, ReElement would process rare earth material recovered from used magnets, electronic waste, and mined concentrates.
Vulcan would turn the resulting materials into metals and finished magnets.
The package includes federal financing and private investment.