British Armed Forces

British Armed Forces
Badge of the Ministry of Defence
Flag of the Ministry of Defence
Founded1546 (Royal Navy)
1660 (British Army)
1918 (Royal Air Force)
Service branches
HeadquartersMinistry of Defence, London
Leadership
Head of the Armed Forces King Charles III
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin
Vice-Chief of the Defence StaffGeneral Gwyn Jenkins
Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff CommitteeWarrant Officer Class 1 Richard Angove
Personnel
Military age16–17 (with parental consent)
18 (without and to serve in combat)
ConscriptionNo[a][1]
Active personnel
  • 138,100 regular forces personnel (January 2024)[2]
  • 4,060 Gurkhas (January 2024)[2]
Reserve personnel32,580 volunteer reserve personnel (January 2024)[2]
Expenditures
Budget£48.4 billion (2023) (ranked 6th)
Percent of GDP1.9% (2021/22)[3]
Industry
Domestic suppliers
Foreign suppliers United States
 Israel
 South Korea
 Germany
 France
 Netherlands
 Sweden
 Spain
 Finland
 Brazil
 Canada
 Norway
Annual imports$568.1 million (2014-2022)[4]
Annual exports$1.074 billion (2014-2022)[4]
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of the United Kingdom
Warfare directory of the United Kingdom
Conflicts involving the United Kingdom
Battles involving the United Kingdom
Ranks

The British Armed Forces are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.[5]

Since the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 (later succeeded by the United Kingdom),[6] the British Armed Forces have seen action in most major wars involving the world's great powers, including the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the First World War and the Second World War. Britain's victories in most of these wars allowed it to influence world events and establish itself as one of the world's leading military and economic powers.[7] The British Armed Forces consist of: the Royal Navy, a blue-water navy with a fleet of 70 commissioned ships, together with the Royal Marines, a highly specialised amphibious light infantry force; the British Army, the UK's principal land warfare branch; and the Royal Air Force, a technologically sophisticated air force with a diverse operational fleet consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The British Armed Forces include standing forces, Regular Reserve, Volunteer Reserves and Sponsored Reserves.

King Charles III, sovereign of the United Kingdom, is the Head of the Armed Forces,[8][9] with officers and personnel swearing allegiance to him. Long-standing constitutional convention, however, has vested de facto executive authority, by the exercise of royal prerogative, in the Prime Minister and the secretary of state for defence. The Prime Minister (acting with the Cabinet) makes the key decisions on the use of the armed forces.[10][11] The UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the British Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, as required by the Bill of Rights 1689. Only a "standing army" requires reapproval by Parliament; the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the Royal Marines and any other forces are not included in the requirement. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council.

The United Kingdom is one of five recognised nuclear powers, a permanent member on the United Nations Security Council, a founding and leading member of NATO and party to the AUKUS security pact and the Five Power Defence Arrangements. Overseas garrisons and training facilities are maintained at Ascension Island, Bahrain, Belize, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, Montserrat, Nepal, Qatar, Singapore and the United States.[12]


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  1. ^ "National Service". UK Parliament. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 January 2024". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  3. ^ "UK defence expenditure" (PDF). UK Parliament. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b "TIV of arms imports/exports data for United Kingdom, 2010-2021". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 7 February 2022.
  5. ^ The Mission of the Armed Forces Archived 2 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine, armedforces.co.uk
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Union1707 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Johnston was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Forces Queen and Armed Forces Archived 22 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, royal.uk.
  9. ^ [1], May 2023. Retrieved on 24 November 2023.
  10. ^ Governance of Britain, July 2007. Retrieved on 12 May 2013.
  11. ^ Review of the Royal Prerogative Powers: Final Report, Ministry of Justice, October 2009. Retrieved on 12 May 2013.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference europarl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).