Toray Composite Materials America has commissioned an upgraded carbon fibre production line in its Decatur, Alabama, facility. The $15 million upgrade doubles the production capacity of the TORAYCA T1100 carbon fibre and adds critical redundancy to support the rising demand for defense applications. Toray's T1100 carbon fibre is vital to several United States Department of Defense (DoD) weapons systems and the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.

Congressman Dale Strong of the Fifth Congressional District of Alabama delivered the event's opening remarks and highlighted Toray's contributions to national defense. "I am thrilled to see Toray's commitment to investments in Decatur and North Alabama. Toray provides high performance carbon fibres which are critical to our defense industrial base and national security. I want to thank them for their investment in Alabama and wish them continued success," he says.

Major General Tom O'Connor, commanding general of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, participated as the featured guest in a policy discussion led by former Commander of the Army Material Command, retired General Paul Kern. The discussion focused on the importance of a strong domestic industrial base following the January 11, 2024 release of the Department of Defense's inaugural National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS).

Other guests included a cross-section of local and federal government, industry and academia.

Toray has already begun production utilizing this new capability and are in the process of qualifying the new line with a number of customers. "Our team in Decatur worked tirelessly to advance the commissioning of our upgraded carbon fibre production line to support the strong demand from the defense industry. As the DoD prioritizes developing a resilient supply chain as part of the NDIS, Toray's focus is to ensure that we are doing our part to produce and increase material availability for various defense programs," says Dennis Frett, President of Toray Composite Materials America.

Toray is the largest carbon fibre and prepreg producer in the United States. The Decatur Plant has operation lines from precursor to carbon fibre and is one of three Toray manufacturing facilities. The company has other locations in Tacoma, Washington, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, producing precursor, carbon fibre and prepreg.