Pendleton firm develops Army gear lubricant with $2M award

 

A Pendleton company is developing a new lubricant for the U.S. Army.

VBASE Oil Co. has been awarded a $2 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Sequential award through the U.S. Army, W51701-25-C-A184, titled “High Efficiency and Sustainable Gear Lubricants for Demand Reduction.”

The program will deliver an Army-ready formulation built to exceed SAE J2360+ performance requirements, enabling measurable improvements in fuel efficiency, durability and sustainability in military driveline systems, according to a news release from the company.

The project builds on VBASE’s patented Secondary Polyol Ester base oil technology, which delivers excellent lubricity, oxidative stability and low-temperature performance compared to conventional lubricants, the news release said. These biobased, readily biodegradable base oils support enhanced fuel economy, reduced maintenance, and longer equipment life in demanding operating environments.

VBASE Oil Co. says the effort will formulate and evaluate two viscosity grades of SPE-based gear oils to demonstrate SPE performance inside finished lubricant systems that can be adopted by lubricant manufacturers and OEM partners. Planned work includes comprehensive tribological testing, thermal and oxidative stability analysis, and evaluation of extreme-pressure additive packages, followed by field trials to quantify real-world efficiency and durability gains in Army platforms.

The resulting formulation will be a fully formulated, qualification-ready gear lubricant that de-risks adoption for lubricant manufacturers and OEM partners by providing a proven design that can be branded and commercialized by industry, the release stated.

“This program gives us the opportunity to prove that high efficiency and high durability can coexist in a single gear lubricant based on SPE base oils,” Zach Hunt, principal Investigator, said in the release. “By pushing SPE-based formulations to and beyond SAE J2360+ performance specifications and validating them through advanced bench testing and field demonstrations, we expect to generate data that demonstrates meaningful fuel savings and longer component life for Army vehicles operating in the harshest conditions.”

“This is exactly the kind of opportunity that excites a formulator,” Nathan Knotts, innovation scientist and senior formulator, said in the release. “SPE base oil chemistry allows formulators to design gear lubricants that are efficient and durable while also supporting biobased and biodegradable lubricant solutions. The formulations we develop under this program will help guide future products formulated by our lubricant manufacturing partners across military, commercial and industrial applications.”

Bottom line is a better oil for military vehicles, according to VBASE CEO Jeffrey DiMaio.

“In simple terms, this project will deliver a better gear oil for the Army, one that can help vehicles use less fuel, run cooler, and last longer under harsh conditions,” he said in the release. “Completing the rigorous J2360+ qualification process means the final formulation becomes a ready-to-use, fully validated design that lubricant manufacturers can adopt without taking on the expense and time of multi-year testing. This is exactly what VBASE does: we enable high-performance, biobased lubricants that can have an outsized impact on the industry and the environment.”

For the Army and the broader military, high-efficiency gear lubricants informed by this work can support reductions in fuel usage, lower sustainment costs and improved mission readiness by extending drain intervals and simplifying logistics, the release said. Beyond defense applications, gear lubricants built on SPE base oils offer the potential for fuel and energy savings across heavy equipment, transportation fleets and industrial machinery, contributing to reliability and more sustainable operations worldwide.

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