US Army picks Vulcan Elements to supply magnets for one million military drones

Vulcan Elements won a competitive US Army selection to supply neodymium-iron-boron magnets for the SkyFoundry drone initiative, which targets one million small drones per year. The magnets will go into brushless motors; Vulcan is building a 1.1-million-square-foot magnet factory in Benson, North Carolina, with capacity of up to 10,000 metric tons annually.

• Vulcan Elements will supply neodymium-iron-boron magnets for the SkyFoundry program
• The program targets 1 million small drones per year via Tobyhanna Army Depot
• Its Benson, North Carolina plant spans 1.1 million sq ft with up to 10,000 tons of annual capacity
• Vulcan says its supply chain does not depend on China