Organiser: British Commission for Military History and Royal Air Force Museum

Conference: Future Battlefield Innovation

Place and Date: Royal Air Force Museum Midlands, Saturday 10 October 2026.

Application deadline: 4 June 2026.

Submission Type: Abstract, plus a biography and talk title.

Form of Submission: Maximum 300 words in English. Biographies should be no more than 200 words.

This conference will explore recent technological and geopolitical shifts and how innovations are shaping the battlefields of the future. It will consider how technological developments are driving changes in strategic, tactical, information and logistic practices, as well as the adaptations required in force structure, operations, organisation and systems. As well as looking forward to understanding current trends, the conference will consider how historical innovations changed the battlefield and the lessons available for practitioners today.

The organisers would welcome proposals from across disciplines and on topics including, but not limited to,relating the following areas.

Geopolitical Shifts & new wars – shifting interests, enemies and allies

• The New Frontiers: Space and Undersea Domains
• Polar melting – opening new routes, exposing new resources, re-aligning alliances
• Limited wars and new technology asymmetries (a drone army in the back yard).

Strategic Assumptions – from manoeuvre wars back to attrition warfare, where next….?

• What is a soldier? Human-AI teaming, robot nursemaids, algorithm vs. algorithm.
• Is there still an air war with humans in it?
• Mahan RIP? Naval warfare in the 3000km range smart drone world.

Emerging Battlefields – preparing to fight the next war, not the last one

• Megacity Warfare – endless concrete and large, dense populations.
• The Transparent battlefield – persistent surveillance, to see is to kill.
• “Bio-warfare” – battlefield plagues, terrain reforming, bionic troops (and other species?)

Technological Shifts – what will work, what won’t (and why not), what’s next?

• Robot Wars – Artificial Intelligence and autonomous devices
• Cyber and electromagnetic spectrum warfare as force multipliers and deniers.
• Stealth, camouflage and their countermeasures – a multispectral concealment science.
• New Weapons – railguns, rayguns, hypersmart hypersonics vs. swarms of cheap & simple.

Economic and Influence Warfare – my sovereign wealth fund vs. your autarky

• Economics of peace – how to become “too expensive to fight”
• Economics of war – low cost long ranges puts infrastructure and civilians on the front line.
• “Gray zone” operations, blurring peace and war lines – draining resources without fighting.

Information Wars – social endurance is essential, narrative control is still the greatest weapon

• Impact of new technologies e.g. Quantum encryption vs. hacking.
• Next-Gen Disinformation and Psyops vs. this generation humans.
• Information wars in the field – from OODA to the Prediction – Action loop.

New Logistic Assumptions – what is a safe route today?

• Resilient, distributed supply (e.g., 3D printing on-site, autonomous convoys etc).
• Autonomous Resupply: The “last mile” of delivery
• Unseen vulnerabilities – where are your widgets made, and who can switch them off?

Any proposals which examine the topic from other perspectives are warmly encouraged and we welcome historical case studies which can inform the topic of battle field innovation.

If you are unsure whether your topic would fit the Conference theme, or would like further details, then you are warmly encouraged to contact the Conference Organiser, Alan Patrick / RAF Museum’s Harry Raffal, for an informal discussion.

The conference will be held on-site at the RAF Museum, Midlands. Proposals for papers of 20 minutes should consist of a single document including the title, 300 word abstract, and a short biography (maximum 200 words).

Proposals should be emailed to the Conference Organiser, Alan Patrick a.patrick@btinternet.com / Dr Harry Raffal, harry.raffal@rafmuseum.org by 4 June 2026