DARPA, the US defense research agency, is preparing Laguna, a 36-month program to bring specialty chemicals back into domestic production. The announcement of November 5 is dedicated to materials without which expensive military equipment cannot be assembled and repaired. Airplanes and ships need protective coatings, and composite parts need resins and adhesives. With foreign supplies ceasing, the presence of an American plant still leaves open the question of whether it will have the required lineup.
A dependency is created between raw materials and finished material. American ethylene goes through several chemical transformations before it becomes part of a product with the desired properties. Each transaction abroad ties the next production to a foreign supplier. Army bioengineering expert Peter Emanuel called the problem head-on in 2021: Critical materials are produced by a single domestic manufacturer or in countries that could prevent US supplies. After receiving a refusal, the manufacturer had to look for an alternative material and check its suitability.
Restoring production according to the previous plan is expensive and time consuming. In February 2024, the Pentagon allocated $192.5 million for capabilities of 22 materials with a deadline for creation by the end of 2027. Laguna offers to shorten the technological path: to combine synthesis, preparation of the vehicle and testing of its properties. The intermediate material that is separated from the mixture today, purified and sent to the next processor should, if possible, remain within the overall process. The need for separate installations and transport, the consumption of solvents and the volume of waste are reduced. This makes it easier to bring production back to US environmental requirements.
The list of raw materials includes sugar and petrochemical products. In addition to ethylene, the BTX group is called - benzene, toluene and xylenes. Various sources allow you to choose a shortcut to the desired recipe.