DURHAM, N.C., September 23, 2026 – Marking its tenth U.S. Department of War contract, Vulcan Elements announced its competitive selection by the U.S. Army to supply high-performance neodymium iron boron magnets for the Army’s drone initiative to produce small unmanned aircraft systems. The initiative is the Army’s vertically-integrated effort to produce small drones that aims to produce one million drones per year in the United States, at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania.
Vulcan was competitively selected after providing data sheets that matched the performance specifications required by the Army. A key requirement of the solicitation was “a fully domestic, vertically integrated manufacturing process.” The Army also required multiple evaluations of Vulcan’s capability and past performance by current customers.
“Rare earth magnets are foundational to the military capabilities that we need to defend our country, including drones. Vulcan is working every day to bring this vital capability back to American soil,” said John Maslin, CEO of Vulcan Elements. “As small drone systems become even more critical on the modern battlefield, we’re committed to ensuring that our military can manufacture them without having to ask for permission. This isn’t just a manufacturing challenge; it’s a national security imperative.”
The magnets will enable the Army’s production of brushless direct current motors—the primary engine powering the Army’s small drone capabilities. The award is Vulcan’s 10th Department of War contract to date, spanning multiple administrations and every branch of the U.S. military, across some of its highest priority programs.
Founded in 2023, Vulcan is currently building a magnet manufacturing facility in Benson, North Carolina that is destined to be the largest rare earth magnet factory outside of China. The 1.1 million-square-foot facility will have an annual capacity of 10,000 metric tons of magnet production and will supply magnets for critical defense systems, semiconductor fabrication, robotics, drones, AI infrastructure, automobiles, and other strategic technologies and sectors of the American economy. Presently, it operates from a 21,000 sq ft small-scale plant that it opened in March 2025 in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. See www.vulcanelements.com.
