Development and application of a methodological framework for assessing the resilience of military infrastructure against climate change impacts

Mitigating climate change impacts and enhancing the resilience capacity of military infrastructure is essential for the Armed Forces, first, to ensure a high level of both readiness and sustainability transitions and, second, to contribute to each European Union Member-State’s (EU MS) specific energy and climate goals. According to this article’s context research, there are not in place many systematic methodological approaches that assess in quantitative terms existing resilience factors of military infrastructure against climate change impacts. Furthermore, in most cases, these approaches don’t offer tangible solutions, which aim to enhance the respective resilience factors. From all military assets, those of the airports deem to be the most vulnerable, due to their high exposure to extreme weather phenomena. This article is targeting to cover this identified gap by conducting an analytical methodology in very practical terms, following a similar concept and structure with the methods applied to civilian airport facilities. At the same time, it is taking into consideration the defence airport specificities, in terms of structure and operations, as well as the necessity to provide solutions that can be transferable in other similar infrastructures, both domestically and across the globe. The case study is based on the 116Combat Wing (116CW), located at Araxos’ Airport, Achaia. Results indicate the climatic hazard that demands immediate actions.