Russian military specialists tested a protective compound on a KamAZ-740.10 diesel engine with a power of 210 hp – the oil was completely drained from the engine, but it did not seize and continued to pull the truck along a broken road for another hour and a half. For a diesel engine, loss of lubrication usually means a sharp increase in friction, overheating, and rapid failure, so the experiment essentially tested how long the engine could survive after the lubrication system was destroyed.
The tests were conducted on military equipment using the "VPK-AZ" compound, which was developed by order of the Russian Aerospace Forces at the Zhukovsky and Gagarin Air Force Academy.
Before the experiment, the engine was treated with a small amount of the compound, after which the vehicle traveled several tens of kilometers, and then the oil was completely drained, simulating damage to the crankcase.
The essence of the technology is that a protective layer forms directly on the friction surfaces of the engine. According to the developers, particles measuring 2–4 microns create a metal-ceramic coating that reduces the coefficient of friction by up to 10.5%, increases surface microhardness to 720 HV, and withstands heating up to 1900 °C.
After disassembling the tested diesel engine, specialists found no scratches on the eight cylinders, and the bearings were preserved and did not turn. The choice of this engine is also interesting from the point of view of military equipment. KamAZ-740 family engines were used not only on trucks but also on armored personnel carriers; the serial BTR-80 used a KamAZ-7403 modification with a power of 260 hp. Therefore, the technology potentially applies to power units that have long been used on a wide range of military and special equipment.