(NewsNation) — Safe drinking water was a critical need for U.S. troops during Operation Epic Fury, and one company’s technology proved to be a game-changer.

WaterCube, a device developed by Genesis Systems, generates drinking water from the air. The system converts atmospheric moisture into potable water for military use and other applications.

Air National Guard officer David Stuckenberg told NewsNation that WaterCube played a pivotal role during Operation Epic Fury.

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“There was a hypothesis that was developed, and that’s why the systems were in theater for testing, that these could change the supply chain and really transform defense logistics,” said Stuckenberg, who is also co-founder and president of Genesis Systems. “By accident and fate, we had an attack, and that hypothesis proved to be true.”

Stuckenberg said the idea for WaterCube emerged while he was stationed at Al Udeid Air Base in 2016, when he realized Qatar’s just-in-time water supply chain could be vulnerable to attack.

“During Epic Fury, we saw multiple desalination plants being targeted by Iran across the Middle East,” he said, adding that water infrastructure can be used as a strategic weapon.

Stuckenberg said that vulnerability stems largely from the centralized nature of many water systems.

“Think of it as a single point of failure,” he said. “The water from WaterCube allows us to distribute that supply. That is our mission as a company: to make sure every business and every man, woman and child in the United States has an uninterrupted water supply. And that water is made from the air around us.”

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Genesis Systems recently received government funding to continue developing atmospheric water-generation technology for military use. The company is also exploring ways to deploy the technology to provide safe drinking water to vulnerable communities.

WaterCube systems currently support about 750,000 people across five continents.

The World Economic Forum recently identified water-from-air technology as one of five key innovations that could help shape the future, according to Stuckenberg.

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