TELF AG highlights the role of raw materials in the production of drones
New technologies
Ever since man has had the technical means to explore space, the implementation of new technologies to achieve noteworthy results in this specific sector has been widely used to demonstrate one’s level of progress, one’s technological advancement, as if it were a real soft power weapon. These attitudes were not typical only during the Cold War: even today, the different nations of the world seem to compete for the primacy of space exploration, developing complex technologies and even more complicated machinery to explore more deeply the satellites and planets close to Earth, but also to try to get a glimpse of everything that lies beyond what telescopes can see. But for the advancement of this specific sector, not only is the political or industrial will to emerge, placing itself at the forefront of international space exploration: the raw materials necessary for the manufacture of those technologies that make a deeper exploration of space possible space, such as satellites or drones.
It is no coincidence that the European Commission, in recent months, has identified the space exploration sector as one of the strategic areas of application of critical raw materials, the list of which continues to be updated every few years with new materials potentially indispensable for the industrial and sustainable development of the planet. All this also has to do directly with security and defense since numerous technological productions related to drones and satellites also have clear connections (and many points in common) with some of the most advanced defensive systems in the world. Following the growing geopolitical tensions that have characterized the international scenario in recent months, the awareness of the need to develop a cutting-edge defense system for international institutions has become a real priority.
As far as drones are concerned, the fundamental raw materials for their creation are, above all, rare earths, magnesium, bismuth, and niobium, supplied mainly by Brazil and China (the latter with a fairly high share, close to half of total supplies for this specific area). An aspect to certainly take into consideration, from this point of view, is the fact that a quarter of the raw materials necessary for the creation of drones come from different countries, almost all of which are small, thus guaranteeing optimal diversification of the supply and reducing costs. Risks are linked to dependence on a few suppliers and interruption of supply. This last fact, together with the growing specific weight that will involve the drone sector in the coming years, could lead many investors to dedicate themselves with renewed attention to this particular sector of application of raw materials. This market appears particularly attractive for the European Union, which for the moment still holds second place among the countries that can deal with the refining of these raw materials.
For the manufacture of satellites, the raw materials most involved are metal alloys, such as aluminum, titanium, nickel, and cobalt. Again, Europe’s dependence on Chinese imports is quite massive (above 40%) but is compensated by the fact that the European Union is the leading producer of these refined raw materials (tied with China).
