Hello, Zebra friends!
Three things happened this year that most job shops will read about in the trade press and file under "not us." I think that is a mistake, so here they are, dated, with sources.
- March 2026. Anduril started building its Fury drone at Arsenal-1 in Pickaway County, Ohio, months ahead of its July target. Anduril says roughly 90 percent of what goes into its products is commercially available parts and materials, bought from a supplier base in the thousands.
- 2026. The Army moved to put Coyote counter-drone interceptors on a long-term production deal instead of one contract at a time, and Raytheon expanded Coyote production after the interceptors were used in combat.
- July 20, 2026. Lockheed Martin introduced PAC-3 ACE, a Patriot interceptor priced at less than half of the current PAC-3 MSE, built to be produced at volume with American and European suppliers.
Cheaper interceptors, launchers, radar mounts, and vehicle kits, in volume, on multi-year deals. That is the headline. Here is the part that lands two or three tiers down, where you and I live.
Interceptor work is machined aluminum and steel, and it lands in existing shops first
Nobody is going to ask your shop to bid an all-up round. But a cheap interceptor is still an airframe, motor mounts, control surfaces, a seeker housing, a launcher, and a trailer or pallet under it. That is 6061 and 7075 hogged out on horizontals, 17-4 and 15-5 turned on lathes, and a lot of fittings. When the prime level opens up, the work does not go to a new campus. It goes to the AS9100 job shop that already has Haas, Makino, Doosan, and Mazak cells running, and it shows up as "can you add a second shift on the aluminum cell."
If that is you, or you hope it will be, the sump is about to become a quality problem, not a housekeeping problem.
What more spindle hours do to coolant
A cell that ran one shift and sat over the weekend now runs Saturday. Three things change at once.
- Tramp oil piles up faster. Way oil, hydraulic oil, and spindle oil float on the coolant. More hours, more oil. The floating layer seals the tank, the coolant goes anaerobic, and you get the Monday smell. Bacteria, not the coolant, are what you are smelling.
- Concentration drifts. Someone tops off with a bucket at 2 a.m. Water in, concentration down, corrosion and tool life follow. Or concentrate in, concentration up, foam and residue follow.
- Oily coolant ends up on parts. A film of tramp oil on a machined surface stains it, interferes with coating and paint adhesion, and gets noticed at inspection. In an aerospace shop that means FAIR paperwork, rework, and a conversation with quality that nobody wants to have about a $400 problem.
The math: what a dump actually costs
Every shop knows a coolant dump is expensive and almost nobody writes the number down. Below is a worked example for one Haas-size 95 gallon tank. These are assumptions, not your numbers. Put your own concentrate price, disposal rate, and labor rate in and the shape holds.
| Per dump and refill, one 95 gallon tank | Assumption | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Coolant concentrate to refill at 6 percent | 5.7 gal at $25 per gal | $143 |
| Haul-away of the old fluid | 95 gal at $1.50 to $3.00 per gal | $143 to $285 |
| Labor to pump out, clean the tank, refill, and mix | 3 hours at $35 | $105 |
| Cost of one dump | about $390 to $530 |
| Per machine, per year | Dumps | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Rancid every six weeks because oil is never removed and the mix is by eye | 8 to 9 | $3,400 to $4,600 |
| Skimmed continuously and mixed at a set ratio | 2 | $780 to $1,060 |
| Difference | about $2,600 to $3,500 per machine |
A tube skimmer is about $400. The mixer is $434. That is the whole business case, before you count the machine downtime while the tank is empty, the tool life you get back, or the parts that do not go back through inspection.
The four fixes, cheapest first
- A tube skimmer in the tight tank. Our Sidewinder tube skimmer needs a half-inch by three-inch opening and bends around what is in the way. It moves from machine to machine in minutes, which matters when the new work is on the cell you have not skimmed yet. Pick the reach off the reach page.
- The Haas-fit unit on the external tank. If the cell is Haas with the 55 or 95 gallon external tank, the Zebra Style Haas skimmer clamps to it and runs on the included cord. It is what most Haas shops end up with.
- Stop the bucket. A Venturi mixer at the drum for a few machines, or a proportioning pump for a row, delivers the same ratio every time. Your refractometer reading stops being a surprise, and your concentration log stops being a work of fiction.
- Automate the level on the row. When it is six or more machines, put a Dazzle level controller on each sump and let it call for mixed coolant instead of a person with a hose. That is the point where third shift stops touching the tank at all.
What we will not tell you
- A skimmer does nothing for a composite layup line or a battery line. If the new work is foam and carbon, this post is not for you.
- We are not on any program. We build skimmers, mixers, and sump automation in Solon, Ohio, and they run in a lot of shops that do this work. That is the whole claim.
- Every date and number above is as of September 2026. Check it before you repeat it.
Twenty minutes on the floor beats a PDF
If you are standing up a cell for this kind of work and want a second set of eyes on the sump, do two things. Take a photo of the tank and the opening where a skimmer would go, and send it through our Skimmer Sizer. We will tell you what fits and what reach to order, and you get a code for 10 percent off. Or, if you are within a drive of Solon, ask and one of us will come look. We are in Solon, Ohio, and the phone works.
Thanks for reading,
Bill Burkey
President, Zebra Skimmers
Three questions we get from aerospace shops
Does tramp oil really affect finish and coating adhesion?
Yes. Floating way, hydraulic, and spindle oil leaves a film on machined surfaces. It stains parts, interferes with paint and coating adhesion, and gets flagged at inspection. Skimming continuously keeps the oil off the parts and out of the coolant.
How often should an AS9100 shop check coolant concentration?
Every shift on a cell that runs long hours, with a refractometer, and write it down. A Venturi mixer or proportioning pump keeps the ratio fixed so the log stops being a surprise.
Which skimmer fits a Haas VF tank?
The Zebra Style Haas skimmer clamps to the Haas external 55 or 95 gallon coolant tank. For any other tank, a Sidewinder tube skimmer needs only a half-inch by three-inch opening. If you are not sure, send a photo through the Skimmer Sizer and we will tell you.
Sources: Anduril, Arsenal-1 and Fury production start (March 2026, reported by NBC4 Columbus and DroneXL); U.S. Army and Raytheon, Coyote interceptor production and long-term agreement (2026, Army Recognition, Defence Industry Europe); Lockheed Martin, PAC-3 ACE introduction (July 20, 2026, Lockheed Martin newsroom, Janes).