Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who attended the inauguration ceremony, said only 10 countries in the world can produce carbon fiber.
Vahidi stated that all of the machinery and equipment needed for producing carbon fiber has been manufactured by Iranian engineers.
He went on to say that the use of carbon fiber in manufacturing military equipment is a necessity since military technology is advancing rapidly in the world.
Vahidi said carbon fiber can be used in the manufacture of military and non-military equipment.
In military applications, carbon fiber can be used in the manufacture of heat nozzle shields, light bodies of rocket motors of missiles that run on solid fuel, wings and fuselages of various military aircraft, and the bodies of light weapons, he explained.
On non-military usages, he said the material can be used in the manufacture of repositories, oil and gas rigs, wind turbines, electric fuel cells, non-military airplane fuselages and brake pads, train carriages, and sports equipment, he added.
Vahidi also stated that high flexibility, high tensile strength, low weight, high temperature tolerance, low thermal expansion, and high conductive strength and chemical tolerance are the features of the material.
The defense minister noted that this achievement will help the country design and manufacture new defense systems and improve the nation’s military deterrence capability.
The mass production of carbon fiber will also help the country make progress in the military and civilian spheres, not to mention its economic importance, he added.
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of extremely thin fibers about 0.005–0.010 mm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in microscopic crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber. The crystal alignment makes the fiber very strong for its size. Several thousand carbon fibers are twisted together to form a yarn, which may be used by itself or woven into a fabric.