A member of 1 RGR (1st Bn The Royal Gurkha Rifles), seen here drinking water from his canteen (Image: MoD)
WATER, or the lack of it, is likely to decide the outcome of future wars involving the UK’s Armed Forces, a new report suggests.
Ministry of Defence climate change and industry experts have begun to plan how to provide military personnel in dry, resource- scarce areas with enough water to ensure they achieve mission success.
The latest thinking was outlined in the official journal of the MoD’s Defence, Equipment & Support (DE&S) Agency.
Today, more than a quarter – 26 per cent – of the world’s population lacks access to safe drinking water, while almost half – 46 per cent – lack access to basic sanitation.
“By 2050, as a result of climate change 3.2 billion people are expected to live in areas with extreme water scarcity,” says the DE&S team in the Agency’s in-house magazine, Desider.
“The UK Armed Forces could increasingly find themselves operating in areas with no local water source.
“Instead they would be reliant on the bulk movement of water to sustain our personnel.
“And when we consider that 60 per cent of the casualties on our side during the Afghanistan war were related to logistical movements this becomes a risk to life and mission success as well as a matter of the time and costs involved”.
Europe isn’t exempt from climate challenges.
Moving troops and equipment rapidly across the Continent requires assessing airports, seaports and large city infrastructure, all of which can face challenges from major flooding or sea level rise.
So-called climate migration, where severe droughts or earthquakes can cause a mass migration of people to city centres, could clog up transport routes needed by troops.
Nor is every challenge climate-related.
An UN report in May 2023 warned of “the destruction, damage and disruption – sometimes deliberate – of water services.”
’s attacks on ’s Nova Kakhovka Dam displaced 3,600 people from 80 towns and villages along the Dnipro River, and cut the water supply to 1 million people.
In fact, according to the WIlson Centre, water in has been targeted by since 2014, when Russian troops caused considerable damage to water systems as they seized Crimea and portions of eastern .
But the DE&S’ Futures Lab, which uses the expertise of 250 firms to provide workable and cost-effective solutions to strategic challenges, is working on solutions.
DE&S headquarters in Bristol (Image: MoD)
Among ideas being considered are ‘fog nets’ which capture water from the atmosphere
More than a quarter of the world’s population lacks access to safe drinking water (Image: Getty)
Military scientists and engineers screened an array of technologies, considering various climatic conditions and looked at a range of scenarios from individuals on the battlefield to a main operating base with 5,000 personnel.
Among ideas being considered are ‘fog nets’ which capture water from the atmosphere, nano filtration technologies to treat surface or groundwater, recycled waste-water and hydrogen generators that produce water as a by-product.
Other technologies such as UV sterilisation are also on the cards.
Some of these , such as wastewater recycling, might be ready by 2040 – in just 15 years time.
According to US Army research, recycling waste water can reduce water demand by 30 to 50 per cent .
In the field, things like showers and laundry facilities can reclaim up to 75 per cent of the water they use.
A report by DE&S Futures Lab recommends that the MoD consider wastewater recycling as part of its overall expeditionary camp infrastructure.
It also recommended that the Front-line Commands develop a bespoke water planning tool for selecting water generation systems in different scenarios.
This, say boffins, could include mission type and duration, base size and environment.
“Napoleon said that an army marches on its stomach,” added the team.
“The availability of water is a critical component of that adage.”