National Defense

National defense and steel are tightly connected

Military Uses For Steel

Thousands of skilled men and women of the American steel industry work to produce high-quality, cost-competitive products that the military uses in various applications ranging from aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines to Patriot and Stinger missiles, armor plate for tanks and field artillery pieces, as well as every major military aircraft in production today.

Some examples of steel use in defense applications are:

  • The USS New York was built with 24 tons of steel reclaimed and recycled from the World Trade Center.
  • The USS George H.W. Bush, an aircraft carrier named after the 41st President, contains 47,000 tons of structural steel and serves as home to 6,000 Navy personnel.
  • Steel is a strategic material needed to strengthen existing U.S. infrastructure and installations.

All Segments of the Domestic Steel Industry Contribute to the Defense Industrial Base

Whether it is missiles, jet aircraft, submarines, helicopters, Humvees® or munitions, American-made steels and specialty metals are crucial components of U.S. military strength. Steel plate is used in the bodies and propulsion systems of the naval fleet. The control cables on virtually all military aircraft, including fighter jets and military transport planes, are produced from steel wire rope. In addition, land-based vehicles such as the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Abrams Tank and MRAP vehicles use significant amounts of steel.