A fine pedigree

Recently the ROCOL team visit the DSEI show in London, a world-leading event that connects governments, national armed forces, industry thought leaders and the global defence and security supply chain.
The 2019 event brought together 35,000+ people from more than 50 countries to showcase the best of British defence technology and innovation on a world stage.
As our team looks to the future of the defence and aerospace industries, we are taking the opportunity to look back at the ROCOL heritage in this long-standing industry sector.
The early years
Today, ROCOL products are used across a huge range of applications in a wide variety of industries. Tracing our history back nearly 100 years, there are very few areas that ROCOL is as closely associated with than the aerospace industry.
It was in the 1920s that ROCOL, then known as the Ragosine Oil Company, began supplying its Z oils to Rolls Royce as they developed a range of aircraft engines.
With the gradual development of arms across Europe and the increased importance being placed on air supremacy by the military, Ragosine developed the Minix 90 aero engine oil to military specification DTD-109.
Initially used by the RAF, Minix 90 was eventually supplied to an ever-growing number of flying clubs and new passenger airports.
During the war…
As the second world war raged, Ragosine joined the war effort as it developed highly specialised and effective lubricants and greases to be used on both bomber and fighter planes. Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancaster bombers all took to the skies using Ragosine products as new product development accelerated to support the war effort.
Post-war years
The dawn of the 1950s saw Ragosine change its name to ROCOL. Developments weren’t limited to name changes, though. The decade saw the dawn of the jet age and early steps of commercial flight, changing the face of travel forever.
Demand for consumer and commercial appliances and equipment grew as the public made use of many new products and technologies developed to help troops during the war. Taking the knowledge gained during the war years, ROCOL applied them to freshly developed products that were used on new commercial aircraft.
With products used on both the de Havilland Comet and Vickers VC 10 under high level flight conditions, ROCOL were firmly at the forefront of this exciting new world of travel. It was also during this period that ROCOL developed lubricants containing molybdenum disulphide, which were used for the first time on aircraft carrier catapults.
The 1980s onwards
As aircraft travelled faster and further, new products were required to keep them running smoothly and safely. Working in collaboration with Airbus, ROCOL developed a specialist grease to be used on the gearboxes that actuated the control surfaces of aircraft wings.
The company also continued to work with the MOD, where it has had a strong relationship since the second world war, as the Eurofighter Typhoon launched. This work led to the development of the AEROSPEC range.
Present day…
ROCOL hasn’t rested on its laurels in recent years. AEROSPEC 3052 general airframe grease has the approval of both Airbus and Boeing, and the company continues to innovate and develop its aerospace product range.
Today, there aren’t many commercial or military aircraft that don’t use a ROCOL product. For close to 100 years the experts at ROCOL have maintained close working relationships with high profile defence and civil organisations. This has enabled them to continually develop products of the highest quality for use in some of the most demanding applications in engineering.
With a range of products that have the seal of approval of Boeing, Airbus and Rolls Royce and a long and successful history of working closely with these – and many other – organisations, ROCOL is a heritage brand for the modern world that understands customer needs and continues to evolve to meet the needs of a changing world.