Future Warfare and Climate Change: Examining the Medical, Tactical, and Moral Consequences
In a significant shift, military operations are adapting to meet new threats posed by climate change, such as extreme heat, rising sea levels, water scarcity, and shifting disease patterns. This evolution is a crucial part of defence strategy, with an increasing role for humanitarian and disaster response.
Recent discussions have centred around the growing risk of climate-driven conflict and competition over critical resources. This session, part of a three-part webinar series, focuses on systems-level adaptation, operational readiness, and global security considerations. Professor Tim Hodgetts, who has held senior NATO medical leadership roles and is currently the Master General of the Army Medical Services and former Surgeon General of the UK Armed Forces, is leading the discussion.
Technological innovations are playing a key role in this adaptation. The U.S. military, for instance, is field-testing new materials and technologies that improve mobility and operational capability in extreme terrains affected by climate change. During BALTOPS 2025, U.S. Navy Seabees and Marine Corps engineers tested the SUBMAT innovation, which enhances maneuverability over challenging surfaces such as ice, freeze-thaw cycles, and rugged land. This technology is designed to support rapid maneuver warfare with a smaller footprint, crucial for expeditionary advanced base operations.
In electronic warfare, there is a critical focus on developing systems that maintain performance across extreme environmental conditions—from Arctic cold to desert heat. Engineering challenges such as thermal management and ensuring reliability despite size and weight constraints are addressed through rapid, field-driven innovation cycles.
Military medical personnel are also receiving specialized training to operate in austere, extreme environments that are becoming more prevalent due to climate shifts. The Uniformed Services University's Mountain Medicine Course focuses on clinical skills, tactical decision-making, and team-based care in high-altitude and harsh terrain conditions.
Historically, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a long history of adapting to and conquering extreme environments. Now, they are facing the need to innovate solutions that account for environmental and climatic challenges, balancing engineering prowess with environmental impact mitigation to reflect changing operational landscapes and community conditions due to climate change.
The military's response to climate change also includes efforts towards carbon reduction and sustainable operations. Extreme environments are redefining logistics, soldier health, and medical readiness in military operations, necessitating a focus on adaptability, technological innovation, and specialized training tailored to harsh conditions.
Links to Part One and Part Three of the webinar series are provided for those interested in learning more about these important developments.
[1] U.S. Navy Seabees and Marine Corps engineers test SUBMAT innovation for rapid maneuver in extreme terrains, 2025 [Online]. Available: https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=133477
[2] U.S. Army Corps of Engineers adapts to extreme environments in the face of climate change [Online]. Available: https://www.army.mil/article/263808/
[3] Uniformed Services University's Mountain Medicine Course equips military personnel for extreme environments [Online]. Available: https://www.usuhs.edu/education/academics/schools/som/departments/bm/academic-programs/mountain-medicine-course
[4] Rapid development of electronic warfare systems for extreme environments [Online]. Available: https://www.defensenews.com/electronics/2021/06/15/rapid-development-of-electronic-warfare-systems-for-extreme-environments/
- As climate change alters global conditions, military leadership recognizes the significance of environmental-science and health-and-wellness, particularly in training their personnel to operate effectively in extreme and austere environments.
- The U.S. military's approach to climate change adaptation includes the testing of innovative technologies such as the SUBMAT, designed for rapid maneuverability in challenging terrains and climates, signifying a crucial role for science and technology in this evolution.
- In order to maintain operational readiness and address global security concerns amidst climate change, military operations are adapting their strategies, focusing on systems-level adaptation, while prioritizing the development of electronic warfare systems suitable for extreme environmental conditions, linking leadership, science, and climate-change.
