appeared to be very positive. The military applications were widespread, largely because the planet was still immersed in the ôCold War.ö Market forecasts indicated a potential doubling and/or tripling of the business by the decade of the mid-1990s. With the subsequent collapse of the ôCold Warö rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, major defense industry-related cutbacks, worldwide, caused a downturn in the market thus causing many of the suppliers to ôre-toolö themselves into more commercially-oriented applications (Abraham, 2001).
From the above, even though it is largely held that the military aircraft and aerospace applications fueled the growth of the carbon fibre industry, the application of the technology has also been apparent (if not forced) in other industries such as the commercial aircraft industry, sporting goods and the medical industry, to name but a few.
The introduction of carbon fibre technology permitted product designers to achieve lighter weight and physically stronger product solutions than that which could be obtained from steel. The obvious implications to even the least sophisticated observer to the military aircraft arena are somewhat self-evident. Lighter planes are able to travel farther and/or faster than those based on purely metallic (i.e., steel-based) technology. The ôradar cross sectionö of the less ôreflectiveö composite-based airframes has also permitted application of these aircraft in highly dense ôradar surveillanceö environments. Application of the technology to the automobile industry, however, has permitted the deployment of lighter cars and trucks than would be otherwise permitted using purely metallic-based technology. This means less strain on the engine to produce the power to move the vehicle. Consequently, from the commercial perspective, it should be self-evident that the utilization of carbon fibre technology should also lead to less fuel ...