New Products Outperforming Previous Petroleum Versions; Turning Heads at Installation Demonstrations

By Josh Rasmussen

For decades, the Services have employed a variety of petroleum-based cleaner, lubricant, and preservative (CLP) solutions to clean their weapons and weapon systems. In the past few years, the U.S. Army, which holds the performance specification for all the Servies on gun-cleaning solutions—called a MILSPEC—has included bio-based versions. Last fall, bio-based solutions moved beyond optional and into the required space, when the U.S. Army revised the MILSPEC to mandate newly procured CLPs be at least 33% bio-based.

Central to the update was the performance advantage of bio-based CLPs, evaluated and demonstrated by the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Sustainable Technology Evaluation and Demonstration (STED) program, which had the opportunity to visit MCB Quantico and present the bio-based products to the Marine Corps shooting team.

”We discovered less lubricant was required for the weapons to properly function, showing improved cycling, reduced malfunctions or reduction in smoke induced during firing and weapons maintenance was cut in half,” Staff NCOIC for the Shooting Team at MCB Quanitco said.

The bio-based CLPs—currently available from a quartet of manufacturers—also create a safer environment for the warfighter.

“The CLPs are cost-effective, great for the mission, great for the environment, and great for the men and women using them,” said David Asiello, director, Sustainability and Acquisition, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment (OASD(EI&E)).

STED also reported a potential estimated savings to the DoD of $1.74 million in usage reductions. In addition to improved operation and reduced malfunctions, STED, which conducted much of the field evaluations for the bio-based CLP products, reported an estimated reduction in CLP application required by anywhere from 35%-70%, with a reduction in carbon build-up by 30%-70%.

“This one was a challenge,” Asiello said. “It was a technology that looked good, but the spec was stringent. We had to do a lot of qualifying. We comply with military specifications. When we have a significant technology breakthrough, if we don’t make it qualified, we won’t be able to use it.”

November’s MILSPEC revision was the culmination or nearly a decade of steady work and collaboration, among partners across various government agencies and industry.

“We worked with the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) and the U.S. Army Armaments Center,” Asiello said. “It wasn’t done in a vacuum. It was a partnership across the Department and the technology programs. It was also a partnership with the manufacturers. It took a while, and once it did qualify, we didn’t want to have just one product in the system. The spec owner wasn’t comfortable eliminating the petroleum based until we had enough vendors.”

The project originated in 2014 as an ESTCP project, where the team pulled together a host of collaborators from government and industry, and started the ball rolling toward a bio-based CLP.

“SERDP and ESTCP fundamentally partner with other agencies and industry to deliver strategic solutions to a variety of environmental issues challenging the Department of Defense,” said Kimberly Spangler, Executive Director SERDP & ESTCP. “We have a great deal to offer those who work with us and benefit from overlap with other industry leaders in our space.”

The momentum from ESTCP’s work continued forward and, by 2017, the first two manufacturers were offering bio-based products that qualified to the MILSPEC. At that time, the MILSPEC allowed for procurement of either a Type A or a Type B version, the Type B version being bio-based.

Between 2017 and 2023, a great deal of RDT&E and an increase in manufacturers from two to four was enough to support the MILSPEC owner in moving forward to revise the MILSPEC again. Since November of 2023, the U.S. Army did away with the A/B arrangement in favor of the new, single MILSPEC, requiring all MILSPEC qualified CLPs to contain a minimum of 33% bio-based content.

MILSPEC Revision Signals the Arrival of High-Performing, Bio-Based Products

The Marine Corps Shooting Team provided feedback to Marine Corps Systems Command that included reduction in cleaning time by 50 percent, reduced smoke during firing, improved cycling, reduced malfunctions and less lubricant than traditional petroleum-based CLP that service members have been using for decades.

The CLPs are just one of many bio-based products on the way. Many other bio-based products, including rifle bore cleaners and LAW cold temperature lubricants, are already in the works. George Handy, principal program manager on the project, said one manufacturer is already working on a bio-based turbine oil—a critical fluid for aircraft.

Asiello said he believes the movement is just beginning, and that the flood gates are about to open.

“There’s going to be a lot of this,” he said, “and not just bio-based, but sustainable products in general. These products are better than the ones they’re replacing.”

A significant number of policy drivers are also helping advance this movement toward bio-based products. The DoD Climate Action Plan, as one of many examples, states, “Sustainable procurement enhances and sustains mission readiness through cost-effective acquisition that achieves compliance; prevents pollution; ensures product availability; and minimizes environmental, safety, and occupational health impacts to the warfighter.”

Despite the nearly 10-year turn, Asiello said he believes the process is sound and repeatable. He also acknowledged the difference between support systems and weapons platforms, but believes the opportunity is there.

“We should do it like this every time,” he said. “Partnerships are key. No single entity has the ability to take a technology from concept to implementation and commercialization, but support equipment is a different. With support equipment, we could get alternatives. This is only the tip of the spear for weapons systems. When we get to a weapons platform, that is a bigger challenge, but I think if we can demonstrate these solutions in other areas, the weapons platforms will be more inclined to give them a shot.”

In the end, Asiello emphasized the need for demonstration and communication, saying, “If there is a technology in the system—one that works better—and people don’t know about it, they aren’t going to get it.”

Working with Asiello is Reginald Mack, the Deputy Director for Sustainability, Procurement and Supply Management, and former warfighter of 25 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Mack said, after years of dealing with CLP on a daily basis, seeing the development of a safer, bio-based version was especially exciting, and was one of the reasons he was so eager to join the program.

Mack’s sentiment has been shared by many who have tested the bio-based CLPs. He said they see it in the comments from users, and that it wouldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t a good product.

Handy, who has conducted demonstrations at installations across the U.S. has reported the same response from servicemen and women.

“Everywhere we took it, people were receptive,” Handy said. “Everybody loved it. We had security forces with NASA. We had other U.S. Navy, USMC, USAF, and U.S. Army demonstration sites, but the big move was the comprehensive demonstration with the Marine Corps System Command and USMC shooting team at Quantico.”

Other demonstration sites so far include, MCB Camp Pendleton, Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Edwards AFB, Fort Jackson, Fort Moore, Anniston Army Depot, and Fort Irwin, with more coming. The STED Team is adding the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and U.S. Navy SEALs to the demonstration.

The CLPs are available to procure in several size containers (NSNs) from half ounce bottles to one gallon jugs. For more information, review the project overview page.

About SERDP & ESTCP

The Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) fund resilience, restoration, and conservation projects that enhance capabilities and sustain operations at Department of Defense (DoD) installations. SERDP identifies and addresses priority environmental science and technology opportunities that focus on mission requirements, and ESTCP transitions technologies out of the lab and into the field. The programs report to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy Resilience & Optimization headquartered at the Pentagon. For more information, visit https://serdp-estcp.mil.