Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters Monday that she held meetings with Australian counterparts about "whether or not we could work with Australia to stand up a facility that would take care of our DoD needs, but a variety of other international needs as well."

Lord's meeting comes after a series of threats made by the Chinese to block rare earth mineral exports to the U.S., about 17 minerals in total, mostly used in fifth-generation fighter jets, M1 Abrams tank armor, radars, lasers, and engines.

What irks Washington and the neocon warmongers in the White House is that China controls 80% of the global processing capacity of rare earth minerals.

"We're concerned about any fragility in the supply chain and especially where an adversary controls the supply," Lord told reporters at a Washington event on Monday.