The hydrogen debate has been shaped largely by industrial, climate and innovation policy; its relevance for security is now becoming increasingly clear. Hydrogen technologies could make armed forces and security-relevant infrastructure significantly less dependent on fossil fuel imports. NATO has already explicitly recognised hydrogen as a strategic building block for the energy transition in the defence sector.
What are the application areas for the defence industry?
• Mobile energy supply and logistics: Hydrogen fuel cells offer quiet, low-maintenance and climate-neutral power supply – even away from conventional supply grids. Mobile hydrogen generators can operate field camps, sensor systems or communication units autonomously and offer advantages over diesel infrastructure in terms of transport, logistics and maintenance.
• Alternative fuels and vehicles: E-fuels enable the decarbonisation of existing fleets – crucial for air forces, navies and armies. Hydrogen-powered utility and special-purpose vehicles reduce dependence on conventional fuel supply chains, extend range and enable autonomous energy supply even in emergencies.
• Protection of critical infrastructure: Power outages and sabotage threaten the operational capability and supply of armed forces. Hydrogen-based emergency power supply with fuel cells as backup enables redundancy and security of supply – independent of diesel reserves and supply chain risks.
Opportunities for the hydrogen ramp-up
The defence industry is predestined to lend momentum to the hydrogen ramp-up as an early adopter, innovation driver and critical large-scale customer. It can provide incentives for scaling through demand aggregation and government investment. Initial pilot projects are already underway at the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, including hydrogen-powered emergency power systems, H2 special-purpose vehicles and mobile refuelling stations.
However, it is also clear that military applications or increased Bundeswehr engagement in the hydrogen sector will support the ramp-up less through corresponding volume demand than by helping to build infrastructure. The Bundeswehr’s actual fuel consumption as a share of total fuel consumption in Germany is likely to be well below one percent (i.e. well below one billion litres or 0.9 million tonnes).
The large budgets now released by the Federal Government for the defence sector give hope that some of this will also boost the hydrogen ramp-up. One example is support for building decentralised supply infrastructures for e-fuels – such as those now being developed by Rheinmetall. Considerations such as quotas for green steel in armoured vehicles could also indirectly incentivise the hydrogen ramp-up. Successful pilot applications in military technology can become a blueprint for accelerated market penetration in the civilian sector.
In this way, resilience can become not only a premise of modern security policy – but a driving force behind the hydrogen ramp-up.
