The Pentagon has formally established FORTRESS America, short for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability, to maintain U.S. military operations during a major conflict even if cyberattacks or sabotage disrupt domestic factories, power grids and supply chains. Established on Sept. 30, the program calls for large domestic reserves of critical minerals, fuel and munitions and underpins planning by major bases to operate for 90 days without the grid. Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said the effort could approach the scale of Defense Department preparations during the Cold War, while shifting the emphasis from overseas stockpiles to protected reserves inside the United States. The initiative faces severe industrial constraints. The U.S. produces less than 1% of the most common rare-earth magnet it uses; demand was about 48,000 metric tons in 2025, compared with 300 metric tons from domestic sources. The country also imported about $60 billion of critical minerals excluding rare earths that year, including nickel, lithium, cobalt, graphite and tungsten, while China dominates processing of many such materials. The supply risk has already affected manufacturers, including Ford, which idled its Chicago Explorer plant for a week in May 2025 after rare-earth supplies tightened. FORTRESS combines raw-material stockpiling with efforts to expand domestic mining and processing, but the tungsten market shows the limits of that approach. The Elmet Group won a Defense Logistics Agency contract worth up to $2 billion for tungsten supplies, although only $150 million is guaranteed, and the company does not plan to begin deliveries until new production is available. The Pentagon has committed $450 million to Elmet, including about $150 million to restart the Springer tungsten complex in Nevada. Costs remain under review and could reach scores or hundreds of billions of dollars, with public-private partnerships being considered to help finance the effort. Analysts say building the required infrastructure will take years. Federal rules taking effect Jan. 1, 2027, will bar defense contractors from buying covered rare earths, magnets and tungsten from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, although waivers have repeatedly been granted because domestic supply remains insufficient.