Acknowledging the power of innovation as a driver for building a competitive edge in warfare, new defence policies in the UK and US since 2015 began elevating military innovation as the chief development goal above all other processes. Laura Schousboe from the Royal Danish Defence College explores with Peter Roberts the possibility that this fixation has resulted in “innovation fatigue” in Western militaries, and tests the idea that the faddism over such a language may make innovation itself a toxic subject for future generations.