Abstract

This paper engages with the recent scholarship on ‘low carbon warfare’ (Depledge, 2023) and the overreliance of western militaries on fossil fuels, energy intensive high-tech weapons, and electricity hungry data networks. This mode of warfare will become, literally unsustainable, if faced with disruptive climate change or should decarbonised energies and fuels become more expensive. Yet, while climate change will alter how Western militaries conduct operations, there will also be continuities with legacy technologies that rely on fossil fuels. Three future scenarios are offered here: optimistic, realistic, and pessimistic as regards the availability of decarbonised energy alternatives. It is argued that hybridity will be a key feature in the mix of future fuel, weapons, and platforms. Doctrinally, there may be a return to older modes of warfare with less emphasis on energy-intensive rapid manoeuvre, and more focus on slower attritional strategies, fortification, sieges, or raiding.