According to the Pentagon, the number one national security threat facing America is climate change. Not terrorists. Not China. Not even Kim Kardashian. Nope, it’s climate change, and it has been for some time now. That’s why our military leaders are spending billions of dollars trying to develop new alternative fuel systems that will make our weapons of war less dependent on oil, and they’re considering all the options.

Automotive News reports that GM and the U.S. Army have teamed up to test a Chevy Colorado pickup packing a hydrogen fuel cell drivetrain. Beyond its near-silent motor and total lack of tailpipe emissions, the U.S. Army is interested in the incredible and instantaneous torque provided by a fuel cell vehicle’s electric motors.

Hydrogen fuel cells turn gaseous hydrogen into electricity that drives electric motors, but unlike battery-electric vehicles, it can be refueled in about the same amount of time as a conventional gas car. Less appealing is the high cost of creating hydrogen, the high pressure tanks required to store it, and the price of the drivetrain itself. The handful of production hydrogen cars, like the Toyota Mirai, have price tags near or exceeding $60,000.

Of course the military has much deeper pockets than most of us, and the military has spent as much as $800 a gallon to transport JP-8 fuel to remote outposts in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Through solar panels and electrolysis, hydrogen fuel can *technically* be developed on-site, another benefit the military is no doubt considering. That said, the day when the U.S. military requires anything but oil to operate is still in the far-off future. But it’s better to plan for tomorrow today, than regret not being prepared at all.