The tensile strength of unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced plastics under a high strain rate was experimentally investigated. A high-strain-rate test was performed using the tension-type split Hopkinson bar technique. In order to obtain the tensile stress-strain relations, a special fixture was used for the impact tensile specimen. The experimental results demonstrated that the tensile modulus and strength in the longitudinal direction are independent of the strain rate. In contrast, the tensile properties in the transverse direction and the shear properties increase with the strain rate. Moreover, it was observed that the strain-rate dependence of the shear strength is much stronger than that of the transverse strength. The tensile strength of off-axis specimens was measured using an oblique tab, and the experimental results were compared with the tensile strength predicted based on the Tsai-Hill failure criterion. It was concluded that the tensile strength can be characterized quite well using the above failure criterion under dynamic loading conditions.