Evolving Challenges in Military Engineering. How Can Small Military Organisations Meet These Challenges?

The security environment today is becoming increasingly complex. Interstate warfare has erupted in Europe for the first time in a generation, great power competition is on the rise, and instability in the developing world is growing as a result of the pressures of climate change. This paper analyses how military engineering has adapted to these threats and what future adaptation is required to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Military engineering represents a uniquely broad set of capabilities that are essential enablers of military operations. This paper takes a holistic view of these capabilities, using case studies to track how operations have affected the organisation and employment of military engineers. Examining conventional warfare from Iraq to Ukraine, peace operations from the Balkans to the Sahel, and counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan, as well as humanitarian operations globally, it identifies the key lessons from these crises and the effect they have had on engineering capabilities. The paper concludes by offering several methodologies for addressing capability gaps within constrained resources. Ireland is significantly out of balance with comparator nations in terms of the size of its military engineer capability and the paper highlights several doctrinal developments that should be considered as Ireland builds its next force model. While it may be possible to prioritise or relegate some capabilities, doing so should be done with the full acceptance of the risks in terms of overall defence capability, as well as the risk to our deployed soldiers and those we protect.