Digitisation has shaped museum practice for several decades. Military history museums, as well as collections of arms and armour, have long engaged with digital tools in documentation, research, exhibition-making, education, and public communication. These developments offer important opportunities for access, interpretation, and professional exchange. At the same time, digital transformation also presents significant challenges. For museums working with sensitive collections, contested histories, and complex forms of public memory, digital tools must be applied with particular care. Questions of context, historical accuracy, ethics, accessibility, authority, and long-term preservation remain central to responsible museum work.

The relationship between established museum practice and the expanding field of the digital museum, therefore, requires continuous reflection. The following article by Witali Gerber, Vice Chair of ICOM Arms & Military and Curator for War, Conflict and Youth Culture at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum, addresses these issues from the perspective of military and aviation history museums. The article, entitled “Digital Transformations in Aviation Museums: Strategies, Challenges, and Prospects”, was first presented in Session 6, “Digital”, at the 2025 International Conference for Aviation Museum Professionals, held from 12 to 14 May 2025 at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and Ingenium in Ottawa, Canada. The conference brought together aviation museum professionals from different international institutions and was connected to the wider Network for Aviation Museums initiative.

Previously published in the conference book, the article is made available here as a professional resource and as a possible basis for further discussion among military history museums and collections of arms and armour within the wider ICOM Arms & Military network.