FluxWorks lands first-ever $3.5M Army Strategic Breakthrough grant
What's the deal? FluxWorksDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has secured a $3.5 million grant, the first-ever Department of WarDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Strategic Breakthrough Award since Public Law 119-83 was enacted in April 2026. The company builds magnetic gear systems that replace mechanical gear teeth with magnetic fields, eliminating the need for lubrication.
Who's backing it? The award is a joint co-investment from the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, its Accelerated Research for Transition (ART) program, and the US Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center. It was executed by the Army's Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT) FUZE Office.
What's the money for? FluxWorks will develop its (MG)³ — a modular, platform-level magnetic hub-drive for tactical vehicles. The first transition target is a wheel hub drive for a "light" tactical vehicle, according to Dean McGrew of US Army DEVCOM GVSC.
The endgame: The technology aims to cut vehicle maintenance and weight while providing overload protection. FluxWorks entered the defense sector by winning the xTech Energy Resiliency competition in 2022 and xTech Prime in 2024, evolving a component first invented for space applications into a full drive system.
Why now? The award establishes the operational blueprint for a new rapid-funding mechanism. "The Department's SBIR program serves as the critical entry point for high-impact innovation," said John McCanney, director for the Office of the Secretary of War ART Program.
Founder's take: "We entered offering a component," said Dr. Bryton Praslicka, FluxWorks founder and chief executive officer. "We exited with a compact, integrated magnetically geared drive, the (MG)³."
The signal: The grant ranks around the 91st percentile among US grant rounds in engineering and manufacturing equipment, a sizeable sum for a non-traditional defense supplier. As the inaugural Strategic Breakthrough recipient, FluxWorks marks the Army's effort to build a faster pipeline from early-stage innovation to deployed capability.
Read more: dvidshub.net
Image credit: FluxWorks
