Highlights

• Safran has assigned its Pitstone, UK, research site to find alternatives to samarium and critical rare earths used in high-temperature aerospace magnets.
• This initiative marks Europe's strategic response to China's 90% control of the global rare earth supply.
• The effort reflects the aerospace industry's urgency as electrification and decarbonization drive unprecedented magnet demand.
• China's export controls and licensing requirements pose threats to Western supply chain security.
• Safran's first research center outside France indicates that magnet substitution is now an industrial imperative for aviation, defense, and commercial aircraft manufacturers.
• The industry seeks to avoid strategic supply dependence on China.

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Safran (opens in a new tab), the world’s largest jet-engine manufacturer, has tapped a quiet Buckinghamshire research site to lead Europe’s next salvo against China’s rare earth dominance. The Pitstone facility (opens in a new tab)—best known for developing the first electric motor ever certified for aviation—has now been handed a mission that borders on the audacious: find alternatives to samarium and other critical rare earths that power the high-temperature magnets broadly for aerospace.

For an industry increasingly defined by electrification, hybrid propulsion, and decarbonization deadlines, Safran’s move reads as both a strategic hedge and a geopolitical declaration. If China controls 90% of global rare earth supply, Europe wants an exit hatch—and wants it yesterday.

The Search for a Substitute: Science, Strategy, or Wishful Thinking?

Safran CEO Olivier Andriès frames the effort with admirable candor: nobody knows if samarium alternatives or rare-earth-free magnets are even scientifically achievable at aerospace performance thresholds. Samarium-cobalt magnets operate in infernos where NdFeB fails.

Replacing them is not like swapping sugar for honey.

Still, the company is right to explore the frontier. Alternative rare earths? Possible. Rare-earth-free magnets? A moonshot. But given China’s export controls, licensing requirements, and willingness to weaponize supply, moonshots are suddenly policy.

From a Rare Earth Exchanges vantage: the problem statement is accurate, the urgency real, and the scientific odds steep but not impossible. Safran’s concerns echo those of Airbus, GE, Lockheed, and every defense contractor allergic to Chinese choke points.

Why This Matters for Investors: Pitstone as Europe’s New Magnet Think Tank

The creation of Safran’s first research center outside France is no symbolic gesture. It signals three realities shaping the rare earth market:

1. Aerospace cannot rely on Chinese samarium forever.
   Aviation electrification guarantees magnet demand that dwarfs today’s volumes.
2. Europe is preparing for a world of restricted exports, not free markets.
   China’s licensing regime is already slowing shipments into Western supply chains.
3. Magnet substitution—even partial—is now an industrial imperative.
   If samarium remains irreplaceable, investors can expect price spikes. If alternatives emerge, expect entire supply chains to reorganize.

Safran’s decision is not a prediction of success. It is a recognition that strategic failure is unacceptable. Airbus, Boeing, NATO militaries, and the next generation of commercial aircraft cannot fly without secure magnet inputs.

Citation

Source: The Telegraph (opens in a new tab), Dec. 3, 2025

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