The U.S. Army is turning to a domestic magnet maker for a component that could become critical to its plan to build 1 million small drones each year.

Vulcan Elements has won a competitive Army selection to supply neodymium-iron-boron magnets for the SkyFoundry drone initiative. The magnets will go into brushless motors used to power the Army’s small unmanned aircraft.

SkyFoundry aims to establish a large-scale U.S. production pipeline for small drones. The Army plans to run the effort through Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania.

The choice of magnet supplier points to a challenge that sits deeper in the drone supply chain. Producing large numbers of aircraft requires reliable access to components that are often overlooked when discussing the finished machines.

Neodymium-iron-boron magnets can deliver strong magnetic fields from relatively small components. That makes them useful in the compact brushless motors found across small unmanned aircraft.

Vulcan was selected after submitting technical data that met the Army’s required performance specifications. The company also underwent evaluations of its manufacturing capabilities and previous customer work.

The Army required suppliers to maintain a fully domestic and vertically integrated manufacturing process. Vulcan says its own supply chain does not depend on China for its materials, technology, software, or intellectual property.

John Maslin, CEO of Vulcan Elements, said the requirement matters as drones become more important to military operations. “Rare earth magnets are foundational to the military capabilities that we need to defend our country, including drones,” Maslin said . He added that the company wants to restore domestic production of the magnets needed for those systems.