Constellium to upgrade cold rolling aluminium mill with $9.5 million grant

Constellium has received a $9.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to increase throughput, quality and performance of cold rolled aluminium at its facility in Ravenswood, West Virginia.

The company will use the funds to upgrade electrical, mechanical and hydraulic system at Ravenswood’s 144” cold rolling mill and add state of the art automation and process controls. The cold rolling mill is critically important for the production of “high-performance aluminium plate for ballistic and blast protection of military vehicles”.

“This investment by the Department of Defense will enable us to meet the increased demand for cold rolled plate over the next 5 to 10 years and also significantly improve the performance of armor against constantly evolving threats,” said Buddy Stemple, CEO of Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood. “We are very excited to have this opportunity to help protect our troops.”

The funding was awarded by the Department of Defense’s Cornerstone OTA and will be managed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

“Army and Marine Corps modernization programs will require increased capacity of the U.S. industrial base to produce cold rolled plate over the next decade. In coordination with Cornerstone and ARL, Constellium will also invest in developing manufacturing processes and armor plate that will optimize the additional capacity and process controls of the upgraded mill,” Constellium said.

Ravenswood facility, a leader in defense aluminium production, supplies a broad portfolio of rolled products to the Department of Defense and its OEM partners.