By A.Gooch, Office of ArmyPathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT)
Funded by the Department of War (DoW) Office for Small Business Innovation within the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering and facilitated by the Army’s Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT) with a $3.5M Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center (DEVCOM GVSC) co-investment, Army FUZE marks the inaugural award under Public Law 119-83, validating the transition pipeline and accelerating silent, frictionless magnetic gear systems for next-generation combat platforms.
The Pipeline: From xTech Discovery to Enduring Capability
As the DoW’s inaugural Strategic Breakthrough Program recipient\, FluxWorks exemplifies how the Army FUZE pipeline provides a rapid\, low-barrier pathway for non-traditional innovators to deliver game-changing capabilities to the Warfighter. Entering the defense sector as a winner in the xTech|Energy Resiliency competition in 2022 and following that up with a win in xTech|Prime in 2024\, FluxWorks leveraged direct Army subject matter expert feedback and early engagement with Defense technology integrators to evolve its Celestial Gear™ component invented first for space applications\, later commercialized for general industrial automation\, into the (MG)³—a modular\, platform-level magnetic hub-drive for tactical vehicles. xTech competition victories and Army SBIR contracts matured this frictionless technology which replaces mechanical gear teeth with magnetic fields to eliminate lubrication needs\, providing inherent overload protection and enabling new vehicle architectures that drastically reduce vehicle maintenance and weight.
“We entered offering a component,” Dr. Bryton Praslicka, FluxWorks Founder and CEO said. “Army evaluators assessed it at the platform level: weight, cooling overhead, sustainment, range. We exited with a compact, integrated magnetically geared drive, the (MG)³.” This feedback, combined with early integrator engagement, was critical in designing a system for the specific demands of the warfighter.
Strategic Scale: The $3.5M Breakthrough Co-Investment
This progression culminated in a historic acquisition milestone under Public Law 119-83: FluxWorks secured the first-ever Department of War (DoW) Strategic Breakthrough Award since the landmark legislation was enacted in April 2026. By doing so, the Army has established the operational blueprint for executing this new rapid-funding mechanism. The initial award under FluxWorks’ Strategic Breakthrough was co-funded as a $3.5 million joint co-investment by the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research & Engineering (USW (R&E)), Accelerated Research for Transition (ART) program, and the U.S. Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), and executed by the Army's Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT) FUZE Office.
“The Department’s SBIR program serves as the critical entry point for high-impact innovation, identifying promising small businesses and validating novel concepts poised for technology transition,” said John McCanney, Director for the Office of the Secretary of War (OSW) ART Program. “The FluxWorks Strategic Breakthrough award—co-funded through the Accelerated Research for Transitions program—demonstrates how connecting this pipeline creates predictable, well-resourced pathways to scale. Together with our Army partners, we are not just advancing one company; we are building an integrated innovation ecosystem that accelerates mission-critical commercial technologies into the hands of our warfighters.”
“We are very excited about the potential of FluxWorks’ capability,”said Dean McGrew of US Army DEVCOM GVSC.“The first target for transition of the FluxWorks magnetic system is a wheel hub drive for a 'light’ tactical vehicle.This platform is capable of autonomous operation with a unique suspension system that would be nearly impossible to deliver with a conventional shaft driven system.Longer term, the magnetic wheel hub drives are envisioned for tracked combat systems which would eliminate the large cross-drive transmission inside the platform.The hub-drive has the potential to enable a much shorter /lighter weight platform, increase operational duration/range through system efficiencies, and increase mobility performance.”
This landmark initiative bridges the defense “Valley of Death” by pairing non-dilutive SBIR capital with direct programmatic pull to accelerate testing, scale production, and integrate magnetic drive systems onto autonomous combat and tactical ground vehicles.
“The Strategic Breakthrough Award represents a fundamental shift in how the Army transitions critical dual-use technology from early prototypes to enduring capability," said Nicole Fox, Strategic Integration Program Manager at Army FUZE. "FluxWorks’ progression through the Army FUZE pipeline— from xTech discovery to SBIR maturation and now a $3.5 million co-investment from OSW ART and GVSC—proves that we can effectively bridge the Valley of Death. This award establishes a scalable model for fielding high-impact innovations at the speed of relevance.”
Fox emphasized that this milestone signals a broader transformation for commercial partnerships across the defense industrial base.
“To small businesses and private capital partners: the Army is open for business at commercial speed. The Strategic Breakthrough authority gives us the exact tool needed to match non-SBIR and venture dollars 1:1, de-risking breakthrough capabilities and guaranteeing programmatic pull. FluxWorks is one of many success stories showing that the Army’s Pathway for Innovation and Technology is actively accelerating defense transition,” said Fox.
Operational Impact for the Warfighter
For autonomous and tactical ground vehicles, the magnetic gear drive offers game-changing advantages in survivability and sustainment. Its acoustic signature is a key differentiator; unlike mechanical gears that grow louder under load, magnetic gear noise falls as load rises, providing a widening stealth advantage when a platform is working its hardest.
"Our mission at Army FUZE is simple: identify game-changing commercial technologies and clear a direct runway for them into the hands of the warfighter," Fox added. "By scaling FluxWorks’ contactless magnetic drive we are tackling real-world operational friction—drastically reducing maintenance burdens, eliminating mechanical failure points, and enhancing vehicle survivability for autonomous ground platforms. The Strategic Breakthrough pathway ensures that breakthrough engineering doesn't stall in testing, but scales into production." FluxWorks’ journey exemplifies the power of a synchronized defense innovation ecosystem. By progressing systematically through xTech discovery, SBIR maturation, and Strategic Breakthrough authority, FluxWorks has demonstrated how innovative technologies can be rapidly transitioned into traditional Army acquisition programs and overcome the Valley of Death.