Icebreaker's environmental setting prompts a comparison with future wars shaped by environmental change. Large-scale, affordable desalination is one problem governments need to address, while the cost of applying available technology can delay other solutions. The naval parallel is Treasury pressure during the 1930s, when building sloops or fleet tankers could mean sacrificing destroyers or cruisers. Destroyers took priority because they were indispensable and could also perform much of a sloop's anti-submarine work. Sloops and Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers nevertheless multiplied what the fleet could protect and sustain. Forcing support vessels to compete directly with major combatants could leave the fleet short of supporting capacity.
Notable Point · 29:37-32:15
Environmental pressure and neglected naval force multipliers
Cost pressures can delay practical responses to environmental change, just as competition for naval funds can squeeze out sloops and tankers.