Military science fiction

Military science fiction is a hybrid genre of military fiction and science fiction that depicts the use of science fiction technology, including spaceships and weapons, for military purposes. It usually features principal characters who are members of a military organization, often during a war occurring sometimes in outer space or on a different planet or planets. It exists in a range of media, including literature, comics, film, television and video games.

The basis for a typical work of military science fiction is a detailed description of the conflict and its belligerents (sometimes extraterrestrials), tactics and weapons, and the role of a military service and the individual members of that military organization. The stories often use features of actual past or current Earth conflicts, with countries being replaced by planets or galaxies with similar characteristics, battleships replaced by space battleships, small arms and artillery replaced by lasers, soldiers replaced by space marines, and certain events changed so the author can extrapolate what might have occurred.