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Army stands by official CLP products

By J.D. Leipold
May 19, 2006

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 19, 2006) – The Army Research, Development and Engineering Command wants to make it clear to all Soldiers that the only two approved CLPs (cleaners, lubricants, protectants) that should be used on a variety of weapons systems are Breakfree and Royal.

In a Pentagon press briefing, Maj. Gen. Roger A. Nadeau, RDECOM commander, reiterated that the Army has conducted a battery of tests that concluded the products under recommendation since 2003 were still vastly superior to others.

“When desert ops came up in 2003, the then-director was asked to take a look at the Army’s CLP to see if there was a lubricant with relaxed cleaning and preservation qualities that, in a desert-like environment, would be exceptional in performance to what the Army had at the present time,” Nadeau said.

So the Army took a closer look at its field requirements, and solicited samples from manufacturers for products aimed primarily at lubrication. The Army Test and Evaluation Command tested 21 samples received by manufacturers, as well as the two CLPs already approved at the time, under multiple categories of application and a wide variety of operating environments

“The tests were on four weapons systems covering handguns, rifles and machine guns… bottom line, end-state to the tests was that the superior performers in all categories turned out to be those products which were already approved by the Army,” Nadeau said.

Nadeau cautions Soldiers using unauthorized CLPs that the product may work fine on Monday and Tuesday but by the time Friday rolls around the Soldier might have created a scenario he or she didn’t see coming – “weapon failure, not on the range, but in a fire-fight.”

“We authorize products to Soldiers which have undergone rigorous testing, products we know that will work every time,” Nadeau stressed. “Soldiers don’t have to think about quality performance, the testing has been done ad nauseum and works across a spectrum of operating environments.”

While there are technical manuals and bulletins that tell Soldiers exactly how to use the authorized CLPs, the key to any weapon’s success is up to the individual Soldier’s training and dedication to weapon and cartridge cleaning.

“Even if the manual says you should clean your weapon twice a day, if you’ve got time, clean it four times a day, if you’ve got more time, clean it eight times a day because the one time you didn’t clean it may be the time it jams,” Nadeau said.

“Soldiers should know there are a lot of people behind the front lines who get paid to make sure the Soldiers on the frontlines get the best we can give them at every possible opportunity,” he pointed out.