Zulu Pods

08/31/2026

It's go time in Dayton. 🚀

TETS 2026 kicks off today, and we're here. On Wednesday, our own Dr. Pieter Boersma will be presenting "Significant Decreases in Fuel Consumption of Low Thrust Jet Engines and Turbo Generators Using Novel Lubrication System" in the Affordable Small Engines session, chaired by Dr. Mark Fernelius of USAF AFRL.

Co-authored by Dr. Todd Currier, Jason Ferrante, Liam Holland, and Chris Horsa, this work gets at a simple question: why use fuel to lubricate your engine? In small turbojets using fuel lubrication, that's exactly what's happening. Replace that with a ZPOD, and you're looking at double-digit improvements in thrust-specific fuel consumption, plus you get that volume back for the mission.

📅 Pieter's talk: Wednesday, Sept 2 | 1:30 PM
📍 Dayton, Ohio

If you're at TETS this week, come find us. We'd love to talk propulsion.

08/28/2026

Left: our first test rig. A welded purple frame, a motor, pillow-block bearings, and a lot of ambition.

Right: our lab today. Thermal imaging, high-speed cameras, precision instrumentation, and real-time data acquisition on rigs running at 110,000 RPM.

When you're solving fluid delivery problems that nobody's solved before, you can't just buy a test rig off the shelf. It doesn't exist. So you build it. You design the test. You write the procedure. You instrument it yourself, because no one else understands what you're trying to measure.

Five years of refusing to accept "that's how it's always been done" and building the tools to prove there's a better way. 🚀

08/26/2026

Welcome Liam Holland to the Zulu Pods team!

We’re thrilled to announce that Liam Holland has joined us full-time as a Mechanical Engineer I.

Liam first started with us as an intern in September 2025 and has already made significant contributions towards developing our ZPOD product line. A May 2025 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering (cum laude, 3.87 GPA) with a Computational Engineering concentration, along with a B.A. in Classics Honors.

His background in computational fluid dynamics, experimental aerodynamics, and hands-on work along with tools like ANSYS Fluent, SolidWorks, and Python drive advancements in the work we do every day on complex fluid and lubrication systems. We’re excited to see him continue growing with the team and contributing to the next generation of American aerospace technology.

Welcome aboard, Liam! 🚀

08/18/2026

Why does Zulu Pods exist?

It started with a simple question: why does an engine built for a 45-minute mission carry an oil system designed to last thousands of hours?

Full recirculating oil systems don't make sense for expendable jet engines. And using fuel as a lubricant? That's like driving down the street with a hole in your gas tank.

Our CEO Rob Sladen sat down with the Drone Wars Podcast presented by Firestorm to share the first-principles thinking that spawned Zulu Pods: a packaged oil delivery system perfectly sized to the mission. If the mission is 45 minutes, it should last 45 minutes. Nothing more, nothing wasted.

That thinking matters more now than ever. The push toward affordable mass means programs are moving faster than legacy fluid delivery solutions can qualify. If your engine program is on an accelerated timeline, the last thing you need is an oil system that introduces risk, adds cost, and takes years to certify.

A modular, mission-matched solution that drops in, works exactly how it needs to for the mission, and scales? That's not a nice-to-have anymore. It's what affordable mass demands. And it's exactly what we built.

08/12/2026

The future of defense manufacturing runs through small, focused companies solving hard problems. We are proud to share that Zulu Pods was selected for the 2026 Northrop Grumman Technology Accelerator. 🚀

We're here to replace legacy fluid delivery with something lighter, faster, and built to scale.

Thank you to FedTech and Northrop Grumman for the opportunity.

08/11/2026

We're honored to be named a finalist for the 16th Annual GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch Awards!

Zulu Pods was selected for exceptional growth, innovation, and contribution to Florida's economy. This recognition reflects the hard work of our entire team as we continue to design and manufacture mission-critical fluid delivery systems for the next generation of defense platforms.

Thank you to GrowFL for this recognition, and congratulations to all the finalists.

Learn more: growfl.com/flctw

08/04/2026

Today we celebrate 236 years of the United States Coast Guard. 🇺🇸

Since 1790, the USCG has embodied a simple but powerful promise: Always Ready. Whether saving lives at sea, securing our ports, or defending our coastline, their mission never stops.

At Zulu Pods, we're honored to serve alongside those who protect our nation. Happy Birthday, Coast Guard. Here's to the next 236. ⚓

07/31/2026

When you're building components that go inside military propulsion systems, "good enough" isn't a standard.

Here's our Robotics Engineer Karen Coughlin running post-shock inspection on a board that just came out of testing. She's looking for micro-cracks, solder joint degradation, delamination, anything that wouldn't survive the real-world conditions these components are built for.

In the affordable mass era, volume can't come at the cost of reliability. Every unit we produce has to perform like it's the only one that matters, because to the warfighter depending on it, it is.

07/29/2026

The affordable mass era is here. At Zulu Pods, we're building the components and manufacturing capacity to support this new reality.

Purpose-built for the mission, built for scale.

The Pentagon is moving forward with a jumbo buy of standoff weapons that cost a fraction of their higher-end legacy counterparts.

07/27/2026

Suck. Squeeze. Bang. Blow.

Our CEO Rob Sladen breaks down how jet engines actually work in this clip from his appearance on The Drone Ultimatum podcast. At Zulu Pods, we're building the picks and shovels for affordable mass, delivering critical components that keep these turbojets running. If you understand what's happening inside these engines, you understand why what we do matters.

Wear the mantra: https://shop.zulupods.com/products/suck-squeeze-bang-blow-turbojet-t-shirt?variant=45494044197171