Military innovations are a special case of technological developments that affect societal subfields or society as a whole. They can have unintended consequences on other areas and are therefore viewed critically. The erosion of optimism about progress in modern societies has led to the fact that technical innovations are no longer seen uncritically and must legitimize themselves. The creation of consensus on risks is a crucial goal of innovation communication. Legitimizing scientific-technical developments cannot rely solely on scientific arguments, but must also consider the credibility of communication and the trustworthiness of the actors involved. Military innovations have a chance of acceptance if the logics of distribution of benefits and risks are seen as compatible with each other. This is particularly relevant for autonomous systems and AI. The risk perception of military innovations is strongly determined by uncertainties and subjective factors. Innovation communication must take into account the social, meaning-giving context and anticipate the expectations of the addressees. In the internal relationship, this means offering internal stakeholders a solution to the perceived goal-means discrepancies. Finally, innovation communication is not only a form of change communication but also a communication about the contexts in which innovations are created and used.