Attalon Invests Nearly $13 Million to Expand U.S. Sapphire Manufacturing Capacity

Investment in Murrieta, California, expands domestic production of advanced optical materials supporting growing demand across EO/IR and next-generation defense systems

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Attalon, a leading U.S. aerospace and defense technology company, today announced a nearly $13 million investment to expand sapphire manufacturing capacity at its Murrieta, California, operation, strengthening domestic production of a critical optical material used across demanding electro-optical and infrared defense applications.

The investment comes as demand for high-performance optical materials continues to increase across advanced sensing, targeting, surveillance, missile and other mission-critical defense systems. By expanding its U.S.-based sapphire manufacturing capabilities, Attalon is increasing the production capacity, manufacturing readiness and technical capabilities required to support customers as these systems move toward greater production volumes.

“Sapphire is an enabling technology behind some of today’s most demanding defense systems, and ensuring we have the domestic capacity to produce it at scale is increasingly important,” said John Bergeron, Chief Executive Officer of Attalon. “This investment is about building that capacity here in the United States and ensuring our customers have a trusted manufacturing partner ready to grow alongside their programs.”

The investment builds on a longstanding effort to establish and sustain a domestic U.S. supply of defense-critical sapphire. More than seven years ago, Congressman Ken Calvert, now Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and representative for Murrieta, played an important role in supporting federal investment in the advanced technology and manufacturing capabilities required to establish Murrieta as a domestic source for high-performance sapphire.

That early government investment, coupled with sustained private-sector investment in the facility, helped build the technical expertise and U.S. manufacturing capability required to support demanding defense applications, including the F-35 program. Attalon’s nearly $13 million investment marks the next phase of that effort—expanding capacity, advancing manufacturing capabilities and strengthening a proven domestic supply of sapphire for current and next-generation defense systems.

Sapphire combines exceptional optical performance with the durability required for demanding defense environments. Its material properties make it particularly well suited for advanced EO/IR applications where optical performance, environmental resilience and reliability are essential to mission success.

“Our Murrieta team has built deep expertise in sapphire, from material development through production, and this investment allows us to translate that expertise into greater manufacturing scale,” said Anthony McBride, Vice President and General Manager of Precision Optics at Attalon. “We’re expanding the capabilities and infrastructure needed to increase throughput while maintaining the precision, consistency and reliability our customers depend on.”

The expansion is part of Attalon’s continued investment in the enabling technologies behind next-generation defense systems and its strategy of expanding U.S.-based manufacturing for mission-critical technologies. Across advanced optical materials, precision optics, optical coatings, directed energy and thermal technologies, the company is increasing domestic capacity in areas where manufacturing scale, reliability and supply-chain resilience are increasingly important to national security and the advanced defense platforms that depend on them.

About Attalon

Attalon is a leading U.S. aerospace and defense technology company engineering and manufacturing advanced lasers, precision optics, optical coatings, advanced materials and thermal technologies. With more than 500 employees across the United States, Attalon combines deep technical expertise with scalable domestic manufacturing to deliver mission-critical capabilities that strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and support the modern warfighter.