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British Armed Forces
please note:
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{{short description|Combined military forces of the United Kingdom}}{{Redirect|His Majesty’s Armed Forces|the military of Tonga|His Majesty’s Armed Forces (Tonga)}}{{Use British English|date=April 2015}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
| factoids |
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- (File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|25px) HM Naval Service
- (File:Flag of the British Army.svg|25px) British Army
- (File:Air Force Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|25px) Royal Air Force
| factoids |
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- 138,100 regular forces personnel (January 2024)WEB,www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2024/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-1-january-2024uk-service-personnel, Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 January 2024, Ministry of Defence, 12 March 2024,
- 4,060 Gurkhas (January 2024)
History
(File:Ourworldindata uk-defence-spending-as-a-percentage-of-gdp.png|thumb|Defence spending in the UK)Organisational history
With the Acts of Union 1707, the armed forces of England and Scotland were merged into the armed forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain.Acts of Union 1707 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529130147www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/ |date=29 May 2012 }} parliament.uk, accessed 31 December 2010; Uniting the kingdom? {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308174527www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/uniting.htm |date=8 March 2016 }} nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed 31 December 2010; Making the Act of Union 1707 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511140052www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/visitingHolyrood/union_exhibition.pdf |date=11 May 2011 }} scottish.parliament.uk, accessed 31 December 2010There were originally several naval and several military regular and reserve forces, although most of these were consolidated into the Royal Navy or the British Army during the 19th and 20th Centuries (the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps of the British Army, by contrast, were separated from their parent forces in 1918 and amalgamated to form a new force, the Royal Air Force, which would have complete responsibility for naval, military and strategic aviation until the Second World War).Naval forces included the Royal Navy, the Waterguard (subsequently HM Coastguard), and Sea Fencibles and River Fencibles formed as and when required for the duration of emergencies. The Merchant Navy and offshore fishing boat crews were also important manpower reserves to the armed naval forces (any seaman was liable to impressment, with many so conscripted especially during the two decades of conflict from the French Revolution until the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and from 1835 registered on the Register of Seamen to identify them as a potential resource), and many of their seamen would serve part time in the Royal Navy Reserve (created under the Naval Reserve Act of 1859) and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (created in 1903).The British military (those parts of the British Armed Forces tasked with land warfare, as opposed to the naval forces){{citation |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1917/feb/12/naval-and-military-pensions-and-grants |title=NAVAL AND MILITARY PENSIONS AND GRANTS |work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) |date=12 February 1917 |volume=90 |at=cc248-51 |access-date=8 June 2021 |archive-date=21 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521061200hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1917/feb/12/naval-and-military-pensions-and-grants |url-status=live }} historically was divided into a number of military forces, of which the British Army (also referred to historically as the ‘Regular Army’ and the ‘Regular Force’) was only one.A LIST OF THE OFFICERS of the ARMY, (WITH AN ALPHABETICAL INDEX;) OF THE OFFICERS of the ROYAL ARTILLERY, THE ENGINEERS, the MARINE FORCES, AND OF THE OFFICERS on HALF-PAY; AND A SUCCESSION of COLONELS. THE THIRTY-SECOND EDITION. War-Office. 31 March 1784{{citation |title=THE NEW ANNUAL ARMY LIST, MILITIA LIST |date= 1854 |author=Major H. G. Hart, 49TH REGT |publisher=John Murray |location=London}} The oldest of these organisations was the Militia Force (also referred to as the Constitutional Force),WEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1852/apr/23/militia-bill, MILITIA BILL. House of Commons Debate 23 April 1852. Volume 120 cc1035-109. British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 24 May 2022,hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1852/apr/23/militia-bill," title="web.archive.org/web/20220524093720hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1852/apr/23/militia-bill,">web.archive.org/web/20220524093720hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1852/apr/23/militia-bill, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 23 April 1852, live, WEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1855/may/04/the-militia, THE MILITIA. House of Commons Debate 4 May 1855. Volume 138 cc116-32. British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 25 April 2022,hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1855/may/04/the-militia," title="web.archive.org/web/20220425093514hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1855/may/04/the-militia,">web.archive.org/web/20220425093514hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1855/may/04/the-militia, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 4 May 1855, live, WEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1856/jul/11/the-militia-question, THE MILITIA—QUESTION. House of Lords Debate 11 July 1856. Volume 143 cc625-32. British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 9 March 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170309065917/https://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1856/jul/11/the-militia-question, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 11 July 1856, live, WEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1878/jun/13/army-auxiliary-forces-the-militia, ARMY—AUXILIARY FORCES—THE MILITIA.—OBSERVATIONS. House of Commons Debate 13 June 1878. Volume 240 cc1418-33. British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 23 May 2022,hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1878/jun/13/army-auxiliary-forces-the-militia," title="web.archive.org/web/20220523113730hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1878/jun/13/army-auxiliary-forces-the-militia,">web.archive.org/web/20220523113730hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1878/jun/13/army-auxiliary-forces-the-militia, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 13 June 1878, live, which (in the Kingdom of England) was originally the main military defensive force (there otherwise were originally only Royal bodyguards, including the Yeomen Warders and the Yeomen of the Guard, with armies raised only temporarily for expeditions overseas), made up of civilians embodied for annual training or emergencies, and had used various schemes of compulsory service during different periods of its long existence.The Militia was originally an all infantry force, organised at the city or county level, and members were not required to serve outside of their recruitment area, although the area within which militia units in Britain could be posted was increased to anywhere in the Britain during the Eighteenth Century, and Militia coastal artillery, field artillery, and engineers units were introduced from the 1850s.The Militia Artillery 1852-1909, by Norman EH Litchfield. The Sherwood Press (Nottingham) Ltd. 1987 The Yeomanry was a mounted force that could be mobilised in times of war or emergency.WEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1903/may/26/an-imperial-yeomanry-reserve, AN IMPERIAL YEOMANRY RESERVE. House of Lords Debate 26 May 1903. Vol 122 cc1767-71. British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 16 August 2021,hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1903/may/26/an-imperial-yeomanry-reserve," title="web.archive.org/web/20210816133114hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1903/may/26/an-imperial-yeomanry-reserve,">web.archive.org/web/20210816133114hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1903/may/26/an-imperial-yeomanry-reserve, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 26 May 1903, live, Volunteer Force units were also frequently raised during wartime, which did not rely on compulsory service and hence attracted recruits keen to avoid the Militia. These were seen as a useful way to add to military strength economically during wartime, but otherwise as a drain on the Militia and so were not normally maintained in peacetime, although in Bermuda prominent propertied men were still appointed Captains of Forts, taking charge of maintaining and commanding fortified coastal artillery batteries and manned by volunteers (reinforced in wartime by embodied militiamen), defending the colony’s coast from the Seventeenth Century to the Nineteenth Century (when all of the batteries were taken over by the regular Royal Artillery).Bermuda Forts 1612–1957, Dr. Edward Cecil Harris, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, {{ISBN|0-921560-11-7}}Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda’s Fortified Naval Base 1860–1920, Lt.-Col. Roger Willock, USMC, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum. {{ISBN|978-0-921560-00-5}} The Militia system was extended to a number of English (subsequently British) colonies, beginning with Virginia and Bermuda. In some colonies, Troops of Horse or other mounted units similar to the Yeomanry were also created.WEB,www.bermudastamps.co.uk/1988/11/10/military-uniforms-bermuda, 1988 Military Uniforms of Bermuda, By Neil Rigby on November 10, 1988 in First Day Covers, Queen Elizabeth II. Bermuda Stamps website, 8 June 2021, 23 April 2021,www.bermudastamps.co.uk/1988/11/10/military-uniforms-bermuda/," title="web.archive.org/web/20210423020210www.bermudastamps.co.uk/1988/11/10/military-uniforms-bermuda/,">web.archive.org/web/20210423020210www.bermudastamps.co.uk/1988/11/10/military-uniforms-bermuda/, dead, The Militia and Volunteer units of a colony were generally considered to be separate forces from the Home Militia Force and Volunteer Force in the United Kingdom, and from the Militia Forces and Volunteer Forces of other colonies. Where a colony had more than one Militia or Volunteer unit, they would be grouped as a Militia or Volunteer Force for that colony, such as the Jamaica Volunteer Defence Force, which comprised the St. Andrew Rifle Corps (or Kingston Infantry Volunteers), the Jamaica Corps of Scouts, and the Jamaica Reserve Regiment,Jamaica Defence Force: Third Battalion Duties. Jamaica Defence Force website but not the Jamaica Militia Artillery.WEB,livelb.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/a-global-view/the-caribbean/jamaica/, Jamaica in 1914: War effort The National Archives, Kew, 8 June 2021, 8 June 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210608121902/https://livelb.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/a-global-view/the-caribbean/jamaica/, dead, In smaller colonies with a single militia or volunteer unit, that single unit would still be considered to be listed within a force, or in some case might be named a force rather than a regiment or corps, such as is the case for the Falkland Islands Defence Force and the Royal Montserrat Defence Force. The Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteer Forces collectively were known as the Reserve Forces, Auxiliary Forces, or Local Forces. Officers of these forces could not sit on Courts Martial of regular forces personnel. The Mutiny Act did not apply to members of the Reserve Forces.The other regular military force that existed alongside the British Army was the Board of Ordnance, which included the Ordnance Military Corps (made up of the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, and the Royal Sappers and Miners), as well as the originally-civilian Commissariat Stores and transport departments, as well as barracks departments, ordnance factories and various other functions supporting the various naval and military forces.WEB,www.forces-war-records.co.uk/units/3224/department-of-the-master-general-of-the-ordnance, Unit History: Department of the Master-General of the Ordnance. Forces War Records, 8 June 2021, 5 October 2021,web.archive.org/web/20211005123115/https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/units/3224/department-of-the-master-general-of-the-ordnance, dead, Board of Ordnance. Naval History Archive{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The English Army, subsequently the British Army once Scottish regiments were moved onto its establishment following the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England, was originally a separate force from these, but absorbed the Ordnance Military Corps and various previously civilian departments after the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855.JOURNAL,www.jstor.org/stable/44220102, 44220102, The Honorable the Board of Ordnance. 1299—1855, Leslie, J. H., Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 1925, 4, 17, 100–104, Corps of Royal Engineers. National Army Museum The Reserve Forces (which referred to the Home Yeomanry, Militia and Volunteer Forces before the 1859 creation of the British Army Regular Reserve by Secretary of State for War Sidney Herbert, and re-organised under the Reserve Force Act, 1867)The Army Book For The British Empire, by Lieutenant-General WH Goodenough, Royal Artillery, CB, and Lieutenant-Colonel JC Dalton (HP), Royal Artillery, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London. 1893. were increasingly integrated with the British Army through a succession of reforms over the last two decades of the Nineteenth Century (in 1871, command of the Auxiliary Forces in the British Isles was taken from the Lords-Lieutenant of counties and transferred to the War Office, though colonial Governors retained control of their militia and volunteer forces, and by the end of the century, at the latest, any unit wholly or partly funded from Army Funds was considered part of the British Army) and the early years of the Twentieth Century,WEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1895/mar/15/the-army-estimates, THE ARMY ESTIMATES. House of Commons Debate 15 March 1895. Vol 31 cc1157-209. British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 18 August 2021,hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1895/mar/15/the-army-estimates," title="web.archive.org/web/20210818023526hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1895/mar/15/the-army-estimates,">web.archive.org/web/20210818023526hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1895/mar/15/the-army-estimates, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 15 March 1895, live, whereby the Reserve Forces units mostly lost their own identities and became numbered Territorial Force sub-units of regular British Army corps or regiments (the Home Militia had followed this path, with the Militia Infantry units becoming numbered battalions of British Army regiments, and the Militia Artillery integrating within Royal Artillery territorial divisions in 1882 and 1889, and becoming parts of the Royal Field Artillery or Royal Garrison Artillery in 1902 (though retaining their traditional corps names), but was not merged into the Territorial Force when it was created in 1908 (by the merger of the Yeomanry and Volunteer Force). The Militia was instead renamed the Special Reserve,Hart’s Annual Army List, Special Reserve List, and Territorial Force List, for 1911: (Being the Seventy-Second Annual Volume,) Containing Dates of Commissions, and a Summary of the War Services of Nearly Every Officer in the Army, Supply &c. Departments, Marines, and Indian Army, and Indian Local Forces. With an Index. By the late Lieutenant general H. G. Hart. John Murray, Albemarle Street, London. 1911WEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1908/feb/18/the-territorial-forces-act-the-militia, THE TERRITORIAL FORCES ACT—THE MILITIA. House of Lords Debate 18 February 1908. Volume 184 cc578-605. British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 8 March 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170308220253/https://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1908/feb/18/the-territorial-forces-act-the-militia, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 18 February 1908, live, WEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1913/apr/09/british-army-home-and-colonial-military, BRITISH ARMY.—HOME AND COLONIAL MILITARY FORCES. House of Commons Debate 9 April 1913. Volume 51 cc1196-8W. British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 18 August 2021,hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1913/apr/09/british-army-home-and-colonial-military," title="web.archive.org/web/20210818113804hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1913/apr/09/british-army-home-and-colonial-military,">web.archive.org/web/20210818113804hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1913/apr/09/british-army-home-and-colonial-military, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 9 April 1913, live, and was permanently suspended after the First World War (although a handful of Militia units survived in the United Kingdom, its colonies, and the Crown Dependencies). Unlike the Home, Imperial Fortress and Crown Dependency Militia and Volunteer units and forces that continued to exist after the First World War, although parts of the British military, most were not considered parts of the British ArmyThe British Guiana Volunteer Force. Stabroek News. 1 October, 2008WEB,www.colonialforces.org/batteries-companies-regiments-and-c, Batteries, Companies, Regiments and Corps (Land): Defending the colony, Colonial Forces Study Group (Queensland) Inc, 8 June 2021, 27 January 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210127130254/https://www.colonialforces.org/batteries-companies-regiments-and-c, dead, unless they received Army Funds (as was the case for the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps),History of The Coast Artillery in the British Army, by Colonel KW Maurice-Jones, DSO, RA. Royal Artillery Institution. 1959 which was generally only the case for those in the Channel Islands or the Imperial Fortress colonies (Nova Scotia, before Canadian confederation, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and Malta).WEB,livelb.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/a-global-view/the-caribbean/bermuda, Bermuda in 1914 The National Archives, Kew, 8 June 2021, 17 June 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210617014624/https://livelb.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/a-global-view/the-caribbean/bermuda/, dead, The Quarterly Army List Part I, January 1945. Order of Precedence of the British Army. Page xiii. His Majesty’s Stationery OfficeWEB,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1899/mar/17/army-estimates-1899-1900#division_48, ARMY ESTIMATES, 1899–1900. House of Commons Debate 17 March 1899. Vol 68 cc1161-287 British Parliament website, 8 June 2021, 16 August 2021,hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1899/mar/17/army-estimates-1899-1900/division_48," title="web.archive.org/web/20210816203541hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1899/mar/17/army-estimates-1899-1900/division_48,">web.archive.org/web/20210816203541hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1899/mar/17/army-estimates-1899-1900/division_48, Hansard, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 17 March 1899, live, Today, the British Army is the only Home British military force (unless the Army Cadet Force and the Combined Cadet Force are considered), including both the regular army and the forces it absorbed, though British military units organised on Territorial lines remain in British Overseas Territories that are still not considered formally part of the British Army, with only the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and the Royal Bermuda Regiment (an amalgam of the old Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps) appearing on the British Army order of precedence and in the Army List.Confusingly, and similarly to the dual meaning of the word Corps in the British Army (by example, the 1st Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps was in 1914 part of the 6th Brigade that was part of the 2nd Infantry Division, which was itself part of 1st Army Corps), the British Army sometimes also used the term expeditionary force or field force to describe a body made up of British Army units, most notably the British Expeditionary Force, or of a mixture of British Army, Indian Army, or Imperial auxiliary units, such as the Malakand Field Force (this is similarly to the naval use of the term task force). In this usage, force is used to describe a self-reliant body able to act without external support, at least within the parameters of the task or objective for which it is employed.Empire and World Wars
File:Battle of Trafalgar Poster 1805.jpg|thumb|A modern reproduction of an 1805 poster commemorating the Battle of TrafalgarBattle of TrafalgarDuring the later half of the seventeenth century, and in particular, throughout the eighteenth century, British foreign policy sought to contain the expansion of rival European powers through military, diplomatic and commercial means, especially of its chief competitors Spain, the Netherlands, and France. This saw Britain engage in a number of intense conflicts over colonial possessions and world trade, including a long string of Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Dutch wars, as well as a series of “world wars” with France, such as; the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). During the Napoleonic wars, the Royal Navy victory at Trafalgar (1805) under the command of Horatio Nelson (aboard HMS Victory) marked the culmination of British maritime supremacy, and left the Navy in a position of uncontested hegemony at sea.Nelson’s Navy: The Ships, Men, and Organization, 1793-1815Brian Lavery By 1815 and the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain had risen to become the world’s dominant great power and the British Empire subsequently presided over a period of relative peace, known as Pax Britannica.BOOK, Johnston, Douglas M., Reisman, W. Michael, The Historical Foundations of World Order, 2008, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, 978-9047423935,books.google.com/books?id=dVuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA508, refJohnston2008, , pp. 508–10.Brison D. Gooch, Recent Literature on Queen Victoria’s Little Wars Victorian Studies, 17#2 (1973): 217-224 online.With Britain’s old rivals no-longer a threat, the nineteenth century saw the emergence of a new rival, the Russian Empire, and a strategic competition in what became known as The Great Game for supremacy in Central Asia.BOOK, Keay, John, India: A History, 2010, Grove Press, New York, NY, 978-0-8021-4558-1, revised, John Keay, 418–9, Britain feared that Russian expansionism in the region would eventually threaten the Empire in India. In response, Britain undertook a number of pre-emptive actions against perceived Russian ambitions, including the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880)BOOK, Schmidt, Karl J., An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History, 1995, M.E. Sharpe, 978-1563243332, 74, registration,archive.org/details/atlassurveyofsou0000schm/page/74, and the British expedition to Tibet (1903–1904). During this period, Britain also sought to maintain the balance of power in Europe, particularly against Russian expansionism,JOURNAL, Hew Strachan, Hew, 1978, Soldiers, Strategy and Sebastopol, Historical Journal, 21, 2, 303–325, 10.1017/s0018246x00000558, 2638262, 154085359, who at the expense of the waning Ottoman Empire had ambitions to “carve up the European part of Turkey”.WEB, Lambert, Andrew, The Crimean War,www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml, The BBC - History, The BBC, 21 January 2016,www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml," title="web.archive.org/web/20151210171630www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml,">web.archive.org/web/20151210171630www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml, 10 December 2015, live, This ultimately led to British involvement in the Crimean War (1854–1856) against the Russian Empire.File:Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916.jpg|thumb|left|Soldiers from the Royal Irish Rifles in the Battle of the SommeBattle of the SommeThe beginning of the twentieth century served to reduce tensions between Britain and the Russian Empire, partly due to the emergence of a unified German Empire. The era brought about an Anglo-German naval arms race which encouraged significant advancements in maritime technology (e.g. Dreadnoughts, torpedoes and submarines), and in 1906, Britain had determined that its only likely naval enemy was Germany.Herwig p. 48–50 The accumulated tensions in European relations finally broke out into the hostilities of the First World War (1914–1918), in what is recognised today, as the most devastating war in British military history, with nearly 800,000 men killed and over 2 million wounded.{{citation |last=Willmott |first=H.P. |year=2003 |title=World War I |location=New York |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |isbn=978-0-7894-9627-0 |oclc=52541937}} Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Central Powers, the end of the German Empire, the Treaty of Versailles and the establishment of the League of Nations.(File:No. 4 Commando 22 April 1942.jpg|thumb|British commandos during the Second World War)Although Germany had been defeated during the First World War, by 1933 fascism had given rise to Nazi Germany, which under the leadership of Adolf Hitler re-militarised in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. Once again tensions accumulated in European relations, and following Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Second World War began (1939–1945).BOOK, Mallinson, Allan, 2009, The Making of the British Army, Bantam Press, 978-0-593-05108-5, The conflict was the most widespread in British history, with British Empire and Commonwealth troops fighting in campaigns from Europe and North Africa, to the Middle East and the Far East. Approximately 390,000 British Empire and Commonwealth troops died.WEB, Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2014–2015 p. 38,issuu.com/wargravescommission/docs/ar_2014-2015?e=4065448/31764375, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1 July 2016,web.archive.org/web/20160625000629/https://issuu.com/wargravescommission/docs/ar_2014-2015?e=4065448%2F31764375, 25 June 2016, live, Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Axis powers and the establishment of the United Nations (replacing the League of nations).The Cold War
File:Avro Vulcan Bomber RAF.JPEG|thumb|The Vulcan Bomber was the mainstay of Britain’s airborne nuclear capability for much of the Cold WarCold WarPost–Second World War economic and political decline, as well as changing attitudes in British society and government, were reflected by the armed forces’ contracting global role,Colman (2005), A ‘Special Relationship’?: Harold Wilson, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Anglo-American Relations’ at the Summit’, 1964–68, p77Focus on Europe {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222004546www.raf.mod.uk/rafcms/mediafiles/F21E81DC_E902_D3CE_488720FE8488434D.pdf |date=22 February 2007 }}, raf.mod.uk and later epitomised by its political defeat during the Suez Crisis (1956).Johnman & Gorst (1997), The Suez Crisis, p166 Reflecting Britain’s new role in the world and the escalation of the Cold War (1947–1991), the country became a founding member of the NATO military alliance in 1949. Defence Reviews, such as those in 1957 and 1966, announced significant reductions in conventional forces,Lider (1985), British Military Thought After World War II, p525 the pursuement of a doctrine based on nuclear deterrence,Lee (1996), Aspects of British Political History 1914–1995, 273Pierre (1972), Nuclear Politics: the British experience with an independent strategic force: 1939–1970, p100 and a permanent military withdrawal east of Suez.Hack (2000), Defence and Decolonisation in South-East Asia: Britain, Malaya, Singapore, 1941–1968, p285Chandler & Beckett (2003), p345 By the mid-1970s, the armed forces had reconfigured to focus on the responsibilities allocated to them by NATO.Vanguard to Trident 1945–2000 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310224429www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3867 |date=10 March 2007 }}, royal-navy.mod.ukKennedy (2004), British Naval Strategy East of Suez, 1900–2000: Influence and Actions, p193 The British Army of the Rhine and RAF Germany consequently represented the largest and most important overseas commitments that the armed forces had during this period,Chandler & Beckett (2003), p421 while the Royal Navy developed an anti-submarine warfare specialisation, with a particular focus on countering Soviet submarines in the Eastern Atlantic and North Sea.While NATO obligations took increased prominence, Britain nonetheless found itself engaged in a number of low-intensity conflicts, including a spate of insurgencies against colonial occupation.Chandler & Beckett (2003), pp350–351 However the Dhofar Rebellion (1962–1976) and The Troubles (1969–1998) emerged as the primary operational concerns of the armed forces. Perhaps the most important conflict during the Cold War, at least in the context of British defence policy, was the Falklands War (1982).BOOK, Gibran, Daniel K., The Falklands War : Britain versus the past in the South Atlantic, 1998, McFarland, Jefferson, N.C., 978-0786404063, 161, Since the end of the Cold War, an increasingly international role for the armed forces has been pursued, with re-structuring to deliver a greater focus on expeditionary warfare and power projection. This entailed the armed forces often constituting a major component in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions under the auspices of the United Nations, NATO, and other multinational operations,Frantzen (2005), Nato And Peace Support Operations, 1991–1999: Policies And Doctrines, p104 including: peacekeeping responsibilities in the Balkans and Cyprus, the 2000 intervention in Sierra Leone and participation in the UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya (2011). Post-9/11, the armed forces became heavily committed to the War on Terror (2001–present), with lengthy campaigns in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and Iraq (2003–2009), and more recently as part of the Military intervention against ISIL (2014–present). Britain’s military intervention against Islamic State was expanded following a parliamentary vote to launch a bombing campaign over Syria; an extension of the bombing campaign requested by the Iraqi government against the same group. In addition to the aerial campaign, the British Army has trained and supplied allies on the ground and the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (British special forces) has carried out various missions on the ground in both Syria and Iraq.The armed forces have also been called upon to assist with national emergencies through the provisions of the military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) mechanism. This has seen the armed forces assist government departments and civil authorities responding to flooding, food shortages, wildfires, terrorist attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic;WEB, 2015 to 2020 government policy: Military Aid to the Civil Authorities for activities in the UK,www.gov.uk/government/publications/2015-to-2020-government-policy-military-aid-to-the-civil-authorities-for-activities-in-the-uk/2015-to-2020-government-policy-military-aid-to-the-civil-authorities-for-activities-in-the-uk, GOV.UK, 12 August 2021, 4 August 2016, the armed forces’ support to the latter falls under Operation Rescript, described as the UK’s “biggest ever homeland military operation in peacetime” by the Ministry of Defence.NEWS, COVID Response Becomes Military’s ‘Biggest Homeland Operation In Peacetime’,www.forces.net/news/covid-response-militarys-biggest-homeland-operation-peacetime, 11 January 2021, BFBS, 4 January 2021, Figures released by the Ministry of Defence on 31 March 2016 show that 7,185 British Armed Forces personnel have lost their lives in medal earning theatres since the end of the Second World War.UK Armed Forces Deaths: Operational deaths post World War II 3 September 1945 to 17 February 2016 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911093201www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/512070/20160331_UK_Armed_Forces_Operational_deaths_post_World_War_II.O.pdf |date=11 September 2016 }}, Ministry of Defence, gov.uk, Published 31 March 2016Today
Command organisation
File:ElizabethIItroopingcolour crop.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Elizabeth in red uniform on a black horse|Commander-in-Chief Queen Elizabeth II riding Burmese at the 1986 Trooping the ColourTrooping the Colour{{See also|UK parliamentary approval for military action}}File:Ministry of Defence Main Building MOD 45150121.jpg|thumb|The Ministry of Defence building at Whitehall, Westminster, LondonLondonKing Charles III, sovereign of the United Kingdom, is the Head of the Armed Forces, with officers and personnel swearing allegiance to him. Long-standing constitutional convention, however, has de facto vested military authority and associated royal prerogative powers in the prime minister and the secretary of state for defence, with the former (acting with the support of the Cabinet) making the key decisions on the use of the armed forces. The sovereign retains the power to prevent the unconstitutional use of the armed forces, including that of its nuclear arsenal.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7758314.stm, Whose hand is on the button?, 14 March 2009, 2 December 2008, BBC,news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7758314.stm," title="web.archive.org/web/20090221035555news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7758314.stm,">web.archive.org/web/20090221035555news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7758314.stm, 21 February 2009, live, The Ministry of Defence{{efn|The current structure of defence management in Britain was set in place in 1964 when the modern day Ministry of Defence (MoD) was created (an earlier form had existed since 1940). The MoD assumed the roles of the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry }} is the government department charged with formulating and executing defence policy. It currently employs 56,860 civilian staff members as of 1 October 2015.MOD civilian personnel quarterly report: 2015 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311014359www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-civilian-personnel-quarterly-report-2015 |date=11 March 2016 }}, gov.uk, 1 October 2015 The department is administered by the secretary of state for defence who is assisted by the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Minister for Defence Procurement, and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. Responsibility for the management of the forces is delegated to a number of committees: the Defence Council, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Defence Management Board and three single-service boards. The Defence Council, composed of senior representatives of the services and the Ministry of Defence, provides the “formal legal basis for the conduct of defence”. The three constituent single-service committees (Admiralty Board, Army Board and Air Force Board) are chaired by the secretary of state for defence.The chief of the defence staff (CDS) is the senior-most officer of the armed forces and is an appointment that can be held by an admiral, air chief marshal or general. Before the practice was discontinued in the 1990s, those who were appointed to the position of CDS had been elevated to the most senior rank in their respective service.Hansard (1998), House of Commons Written Answers {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917213955publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmhansrd/vo980512/text/80512w06.htm |date=17 September 2017 }}, publications.parliament.uk The CDS, along with the permanent under secretary, are the principal military advisers to the secretary of state. All three services have their own respective professional chiefs; the First Sea Lord for the Royal Navy, the chief of the general staff for the Army and the chief of the air staff for the Royal Air Force.Personnel
File:Soldiers Trooping the Colour, 16th June 2007.jpg|thumb|Welsh Guards Trooping the ColourTrooping the ColourAs of 1 July 2023 the British Armed Forces are a professional force with a total strength of 185,980 personnel, consisting of 140,300 UK Regulars and 4,140 Gurkhas, 33,210 Volunteer Reserves and 8,330 “Other Personnel”.{{efn|Other Personnel includes personnel of the Military Provost Guard Service, Regular Reserves called up for duty and the Sponsored Reserves.}}weblink. UK Armed Forces: Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics. 1 July 2023. MoD. Published 17 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023. As a percentage breakdown of UK Service Personnel, 77.1% are UK Regulars and Gurkhas, 18.8% are Volunteer Reserves and 4.1% are composed of Other Personnel. In addition, all ex-Regular personnel retain a “statutory liability for service” and are liable to be recalled (under Section 52 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 1996) for duty during wartime, which is known as the Regular Reserve. MoD publications since April 2013 no longer report the entire strength of the Regular Reserve, instead they only give a figure for Regular Reserves who serve under a fixed-term reserve contract. These contracts are similar in nature to those of the Volunteer Reserve.gov.uk MoD – reserves and cadet strengths {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308182849www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/314795/uk_reserve_force_cadets_2014.pdf |date=8 March 2016 }}, table 4 page 13. See note 2. April 2014.The distribution of personnel between the services and categories of service on 1 July 2023 was as follows:{| class=“wikitable”Defence expenditure
{{See also|List of countries in Europe by military expenditures}}(File:Top ten military expenditures in US$ Bn. in 2014, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.PNG|thumb|Top ten military expenditures in billion US$ in 2014)According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United Kingdom is in sixth place in the world’s military spending list in 2023.WEB, Trends in World Military expenditure 2023,www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/2404_fs_milex_2023.pdf#page=2, 2024-05-04, sipri.org, For comparison: Great Britain spends more in absolute terms than Germany, Ukraine, France or Japan, similar to Saudi Arabia, but less than India, Russia, China or the United States. In September 2011, according to Professor Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute, current “planned levels of defence spending should be enough for the United Kingdom to maintain its position as one of the world’s top military powers, as well as being one of NATO-Europe’s top military powers. Its edge – not least its qualitative edge – in relation to rising Asian powers seems set to erode, but will remain significant well into the 2020s, and possibly beyond.“RUSI Briefing Paper {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816202255rusi.org/system/files/RUSIBriefingPaperSept2011.pdf |date=16 August 2016 }}, Is the UK Defence Budget Crisis Really Over?. Malcolm Chalmers. Published September 2011, p. 18 The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 committed to spending 2% of GDP on defence and announced a £178 billion investment over ten years in new equipment and capabilities.NEWS, UK announces rapid strike forces, more warships in new defence plan,uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-defence-idUKKBN0TC0V120151123, 23 November 2015, Reuters, 23 November 2015,uk.reuters.com/article/2015/11/23/uk-britain-defence-idUKKBN0TC0V120151123," title="web.archive.org/web/20151124125230uk.reuters.com/article/2015/11/23/uk-britain-defence-idUKKBN0TC0V120151123,">web.archive.org/web/20151124125230uk.reuters.com/article/2015/11/23/uk-britain-defence-idUKKBN0TC0V120151123, 24 November 2015, live, WEB, PM pledges £178 billion investment in defence kit,www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-pledges-178-billion-investment-in-defence-kit, Ministry of Defence, 23 November 2015, 23 November 2015,web.archive.org/web/20151123145305/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-pledges-178-billion-investment-in-defence-kit, 23 November 2015, live, On 8 March 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a further £5bn in defence spending with a long-term goal of an increased spending to 2.5% of GDP.NEWS, 13 March 2023, Rishi Sunak: China represents challenge to world order, en-GB, BBC News,www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64943445, 14 March 2023,Nuclear weapons
File:Trident II missile image.jpg|thumb|upright|A Trident II SLBMTrident II SLBMThe United Kingdom is one of five recognised nuclear weapon states under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and maintains an independent nuclear deterrent, currently consisting of four {{sclass|Vanguard|submarine|0}} ballistic missile submarines, UGM-133 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and 160 operational thermonuclear warheads. This is known as Trident in both public and political discourse (with nomenclature taken after the UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missile). Trident is operated by the Royal Navy Submarine Service, charged with delivering a ‘Continuous At-Sea Deterrent’ (CASD) capability, whereby one of the Vanguard-class strategic submarines is always on patrol.Royal Navy – Continuous at sea deterrent {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209103234www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/operations/global/continuous-at-sea-deterrent |date=9 December 2014 }}, royalnavy.mod.uk, Accessed 6 December 2014 According to the British Government, since the introduction of Polaris (Trident’s predecessor) in the 1960s, from April 1969 “the Royal Navy’s ballistic missile boats have not missed a single day on patrol”, giving what the Defence Council described in 1980 as a deterrent “effectively invulnerable to pre-emptive attack”.WEB,www.margaretthatcher.org/document/6AC6FE79AE5E485DB3A2B579B6AE0654.pdf, The Future United Kingdom Strategic Deterrent Force, The Defence Council, July 1980, 17 May 2012, As of 2015, it has been British Government policy for the Vanguard-class strategic submarines to carry no more than 40 nuclear warheads, delivered by eight UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missiles.House of Commons Hansard - Written Statements - Nuclear Deterrent {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917213853publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/cm150120/wmstext/150120m0001.htm#15012039000004 |date=17 September 2017 }}, publications.parliament.uk, 20 January 2015 In contrast with the other recognised nuclear weapon states, the United Kingdom operates only a submarine-based delivery system, having decommissioned its tactical WE.177 free-fall bombs in 1998.The House of Commons voted on 18 July 2016 in favour of replacing the Vanguard-class submarines with a new generation of {{sclass|Dreadnought|submarine|1}}s.NEWS,www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36830923, 19 July 2016, BBC News Online, MPS vote to renew Trident weapons system - BBC News, 21 July 2018,www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36830923," title="web.archive.org/web/20160718213716www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36830923,">web.archive.org/web/20160718213716www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36830923, 18 July 2016, live, The programme will also contribute to extending the life of the UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missiles and modernise the infrastructure associated with the CASD.WEB,www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AC00DD79-76D6-4FE3-91A1-6A56B03C092F/0/DefenceWhitePaper2006_Cm6994.pdf, The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent, 4 December 2006, Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence, 5 December 2006,www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AC00DD79-76D6-4FE3-91A1-6A56B03C092F/0/DefenceWhitePaper2006_Cm6994.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20061206004317www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AC00DD79-76D6-4FE3-91A1-6A56B03C092F/0/DefenceWhitePaper2006_Cm6994.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20061206004317www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AC00DD79-76D6-4FE3-91A1-6A56B03C092F/0/DefenceWhitePaper2006_Cm6994.pdf, 6 December 2006, live, Former weapons of mass destruction possessed by the United Kingdom include both biological and chemical weapons. These were renounced in 1956 and subsequently destroyed.Overseas military installations
File:United Kingdom overseas military installations and operations.png|thumb|upright=1.5|{{Legend|#0000FF|Overseas military installations of the United Kingdom, and locally raised units of British Overseas Territories.}}{{Legend|#F0002B|Military interventions since 2000: Palliser (Sierra Leone); Herrick (Afghanistan); Enduring Freedom (Horn of Africa); Telic (Iraq); Ellamy (Libya); and Shader (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).}}]]The British Armed Forces historically relied on four Imperial fortress colonies (Bermuda,BOOK, Harris, Edward C., Edward C. Harris, Bermuda Forts 1612–1957, 1997, Bermuda, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, 9780921560111, Gibraltar, Halifax and its environs in Nova Scotia, and Malta),HANSARD, Parliament of the United Kingdom, SUPPLY—ARMY ESTIMATES,api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1839/mar/22/supply-army-estimates, House of Commons, 22 March 1839, 46, 1141, 1142, Sir Henry Hardinge, MP for Launceston, where dockyards were established, naval squadrons based, soldiers garrisoned,MAGAZINE, Kennedy, R.N., Captain W. R., 1 July 1885, An Unknown Colony: Sport, Travel and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, Scotland, and 37 Paternoster Row, London, England, 111, MAGAZINE, VERAX, (anonymous), 1 May 1889, The Defense of Canada. (From Colburn’s United Service Magazine), The United Service: A Quarterly Review of Military and Naval Affairs, LR Hamersly & Co., 1510 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; subsequently LR Hamersly, 49 Wall Street, New York City, New York, USA; BF Stevens & Brown, 4 Trafalgar Square, London, England, 552, BOOK, Dawson, George M., Sutherland, Alexander, 1898, MacMillan’s Geographical Series: Elementary Geography of the British Colonies, London, MacMillan and Co., Limited, London, England, UK; The MacMillan Company, New York City, New York, USA, 184, and naval and military stores stockpiled.BOOK, Willock United States Marine Corps, USMC, Lieutenant-Colonel Roger, Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda’s Fortified Naval Base 1860–1920, 1988, Bermuda, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, 9780921560005, BOOK, Gordon, Donald Craigie, 1965, The Dominion Partnership in Imperial Defense, 1870-1914, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Johns Hopkins Press, 14, BOOK, MacFarlane, Thomas, 1891, Within the Empire; An Essay on Imperial Federation, Ottawa, James Hope & Co., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 29, These acted as lynchpins in maintaining British naval supremacy on the Atlantic and its connected seas.WEB, Attack on Baltimore launched from Bermuda in ‘War of 1812’, Atlas Communications,www.atlascom.us/defender.htm, 2005, 4 May 2023, 3 October 2018,www.atlascom.us/defender.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20181003233516www.atlascom.us/defender.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20181003233516www.atlascom.us/defender.htm, dead, The Andrew and The Onions: The Story of The Royal Navy in Bermuda, 1795–1975, by Lieutenant-Commander B. Ian D. Stranack. Bermuda Maritime Museum PressWEB,bermuda-online.org/britarmy.htm, Bermuda Online: British Army in Bermuda from 1701 to 1977; 1881 to 1883, 22 June 2020,www.bermuda-online.org/britarmy.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20140821111911www.bermuda-online.org/britarmy.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20140821111911www.bermuda-online.org/britarmy.htm, 21 August 2014, dead, NEWS, Harris, Dr. Edward Cecil, 21 January 2012, Bermuda’s role in the Sack of Washington,www.royalgazette.com/archive/lifestyle/article/20120121/bermudas-role-in-the-sack-of-washington/, The Royal Gazette, City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda, 8 August 2021, MAGAZINE, Grove, Tim, 22 January 2021, Fighting The Power,chesapeakebaymagazine.com/fighting-the-power/, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Annapolis, Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC, 8 August 2021, As, until the end of the First World War, it was presumed the only navies that might prove a threat were all of countries on, or off, the Atlantic, no Imperial fortress was established in the Pacific or Indian Oceans, to which power would be extended from Bermuda and Malta following the completion of the Panama and Suez canals. Local-service military reserve units were raised in some of the Imperial fortresses (notably Bermuda and Malta), which could be embodied for full time service in war time to reinforce the regular garrisons, and these were funded by the War Office as part of the British Army. After the First World War, the growing belligerence and naval power of the Japanese Empire led to the construction of the Singapore Naval Base. The regular British Armed Forces otherwise were distributed around the world where required to guard against invasion or rebellion, reinforced in some colonies by locally raised reserve forces. In colonies where there was no strategic requirement, regular forces were rarely stationed, with local governments encouraged to maintain and fund military reserve units as contributions to their own defence (although these units were ultimately under the control of the national, i.e. British, Government via the colonial Governors as defence is not a competency that has been delegated to local governments). Under the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance, and with the steady reduction of both the British Empire and the British Armed Forces over the decades that followed the Second World War, the significance of the three remaining Imperial fortresses (military control of Halifax having passed to the new Dominion government following the 1867 Confederation of Canada, and naval control transferred in 1905 to what was to become the Royal Canadian Navy) rapidly faded. The Bermuda-based North America and West Indies Station was abolished in 1956, and the last regular army units removed from the Bermuda Command in 1957 (leaving only two part-time reserve units), with the naval dockyard in Bermuda reduced to a base,BOOK, Stranack, Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Commander B. Ian D, 1977, The Andrew and The Onions: The Story of The Royal Navy in Bermuda, 1795–1975, Bermuda, Island Press Ltd, 9780921560036, without repair or refit capabilities, in 1951 and finally closed in 1995, following the Cold War (United States and Canadian bases in Bermuda closed in the same period), leaving only the Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps there today.WEB,whc.unesco.org/en/list/983/multiple=1&unique_number=1147, World Heritage List: Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda, UNESCO, 28 July 2021, Malta became independent in 1964, and the last British armed forces personnel were removed from the former colony in 1979. Gibraltar continues to be used by the regular British Armed Forces, though the naval and military establishment in the colony (now termed a British Overseas Territory) has been reduced to several Royal Naval patrol craft, the locally raised Royal Gibraltar Regiment, and a Royal Air Force Station without aircraft based on it.The British Armed Forces today maintain a number of overseas garrisons and military facilities which enable the country to conduct operations worldwide. The majority of Britain’s permanent military installations are located on British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or former colonies which retain close diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom, and located in areas of strategic importance. The most significant of these are the “Permanent Joint Operating Bases” (PJOBs), located on the four overseas territories of Cyprus (British Forces Cyprus), Gibraltar (British Forces Gibraltar), the Falkland Islands (British Forces South Atlantic Islands) and Diego Garcia (British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories).WEB,www.gov.uk/government/publications/permanent-joint-operating-bases-pjobs/permanent-joint-operating-bases-pjobs, Permanent Joint Operating Bases (PJOBs),web.archive.org/web/20160322052411/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/permanent-joint-operating-bases-pjobs/permanent-joint-operating-bases-pjobs, 22 March 2016, Government of the United Kingdom, 12 December 2012, While not a PJOB, Ascension Island (another BOT) is home to the airbase RAF Ascension Island, notable for use as a staging post during the 1982 Falklands War, the territory is also the site of a joint UK-US signals intelligence facility.JOURNAL, The Status and Location of the Military Installations of the Member States of the European Union, Policy Department External Policies, February 2009, 13–14,www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/sede300309studype407004_/SEDE300309StudyPE407004_en.pdf, 21 October 2014,www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/sede300309studype407004_/SEDE300309StudyPE407004_en.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20150924052522www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/sede300309studype407004_/SEDE300309StudyPE407004_en.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20150924052522www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/sede300309studype407004_/SEDE300309StudyPE407004_en.pdf, 24 September 2015, live, Qatar is home to RAF Al Udeid, a Royal Air Force outpost at Al Udeid Air Base which serves as the operational headquarters for No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group and its operations across the Middle East.NEWS, UK and Qatar sign pact to combat jihadis and cyber warfare,www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4d16d268-629b-11e4-9838-00144feabdc0.html, 3 November 2015, Financial Times, 2 November 2014, dead,www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4d16d268-629b-11e4-9838-00144feabdc0.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20150108184343www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4d16d268-629b-11e4-9838-00144feabdc0.html,">web.archive.org/web/20150108184343www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4d16d268-629b-11e4-9838-00144feabdc0.html, 8 January 2015, A large Royal Navy Naval Support Facility (NSF) is located in Bahrain, established in 2016 it marks the British return East of Suez.NEWS, Royal Navy’s new Bahrain base seriously enhances Britain’s ability to defend the Gulf,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/10/todays-opening-of-the-royal-navys-new-bahrain-base-seriously-enh/, 17 November 2016, The Telegraph, 10 November 2016,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/10/todays-opening-of-the-royal-navys-new-bahrain-base-seriously-enh/," title="web.archive.org/web/20161117211730www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/10/todays-opening-of-the-royal-navys-new-bahrain-base-seriously-enh/,">web.archive.org/web/20161117211730www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/10/todays-opening-of-the-royal-navys-new-bahrain-base-seriously-enh/, 17 November 2016, live, In support of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), the United Kingdom retains a naval repair and logistics support facility at Sembawang wharf, Singapore.BOOK, Navy News (Magazine), June 2011, Royal Navy, United Kingdom, 11 Eastern Outpost,issuu.com/magarchive/docs/201106, 22 June 2016, 25 March 2020,web.archive.org/web/20200325173731/https://issuu.com/magarchive/docs/201106, dead, (”The White Ensign is still flying above the operations of Naval Party 1022 (NP1022), based at Sembawang Wharves in Singapore.“) Other overseas military installations include; British Forces Brunei,WEB, The British Army in Brunei,www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22792.aspx, www.army.mod.uk/, Ministry of Defence, 20 June 2016,www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22792.aspx," title="web.archive.org/web/20160609090139www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22792.aspx,">web.archive.org/web/20160609090139www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22792.aspx, 9 June 2016, live, British Forces Germany,WEB, The British Army in Germany,www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22729.aspx, www.army.mod.uk/, Ministry of Defence, 20 June 2016,www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22729.aspx," title="web.archive.org/web/20160605063435www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22729.aspx,">web.archive.org/web/20160605063435www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22729.aspx, 5 June 2016, live, the British Army Training Unit Kenya,WEB, The British Army in Africa,www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22724.aspx, www.army.mod.uk/, Ministry of Defence, 20 June 2016,www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22724.aspx," title="web.archive.org/web/20160630055845www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22724.aspx,">web.archive.org/web/20160630055845www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22724.aspx, 30 June 2016, live, British Army Training Unit Suffield in Canada,WEB, The British Army in Canada,www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22727.aspx, www.army.mod.uk/, Ministry of Defence, 20 June 2016,www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22727.aspx," title="web.archive.org/web/20160605063606www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22727.aspx,">web.archive.org/web/20160605063606www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22727.aspx, 5 June 2016, live, British Army Training and Support Unit Belize, and British Gurkhas Nepal.WEB, British Gurkhas Nepal,www.army.mod.uk/gurkhas/27825.aspx, www.army.mod.uk/, Ministry of Defence, 23 June 2016,www.army.mod.uk/gurkhas/27825.aspx," title="web.archive.org/web/20160704143134www.army.mod.uk/gurkhas/27825.aspx,">web.archive.org/web/20160704143134www.army.mod.uk/gurkhas/27825.aspx, 4 July 2016, live, Some British Overseas Territories also maintain locally raised units and regiments; The Royal Bermuda Regiment, the Falkland Islands Defence Force, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, the Royal Montserrat Defence Force, the Cayman Islands Regiment, and the Turks and Caicos Regiment. Though their primary mission is “home defence”, individuals have volunteered for operational duties. The Royal Bermuda Regiment is an amalgam of the Bermuda Militia Artillery (which had been part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery) and the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps,BOOK, Ingham-Hind, Jennifer M., Defence, Not Defiance: A History Of The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, 1992, Bermuda, The Island Press, 0969651716, raised in the 1890s as Imperial forces funded by the War Office as part of the British Army,BOOK, Maurice-Jones, Colonel, 1959, History of The Coast Artillery in the British Army, UK, Royal Artillery Institution, 1781491151, and both antecedent units sent contingents to the Western Front during the First World War. They also sent contingents that served in North-Western Europe, and Italy and North Africa during the Second World War. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment mobilised section-sized units for attachment to British regiments deployed during the Iraq War.WEB,www.1rg.gi/theregiment/regular/operations.qxp, The Royal Gibraltar Regiment,www.1rg.gi/theregiment/regular/operations.qxp," title="web.archive.org/web/20070928004525www.1rg.gi/theregiment/regular/operations.qxp,">web.archive.org/web/20070928004525www.1rg.gi/theregiment/regular/operations.qxp, 28 September 2007, 1rg.gi, WEB,www.panorama.gi/archive/050110/updates.htm#More%20soldiers, dead, More soldiers from Royal Gibraltar Regiment in overseas duties in regiment’s history, Gibraltar Panorama,www.panorama.gi/archive/050110/updates.htm#More%20soldiers," title="web.archive.org/web/20070927004314www.panorama.gi/archive/050110/updates.htm#More%20soldiers,">web.archive.org/web/20070927004314www.panorama.gi/archive/050110/updates.htm#More%20soldiers, 27 September 2007, The Isle of Man, a Crown dependency hosts a multi-capability recruiting and training unit of the British Army Reserve.NEWS, British Army opens first reserve unit opens on Isle of Man since 1968,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-34401508, BBC News, 24 October 2016, October 2015,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-34401508," title="web.archive.org/web/20161025115619www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-34401508,">web.archive.org/web/20161025115619www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-34401508, 25 October 2016, live, Since 1969 Britain has had a military satellite communications system, Skynet, initially in large part to support East of Suez bases and deployments. Since 2015 Skynet has offered near global coverage.NEWS,www.defenceconnect.com.au/intel-cyber/4-skynet-in-australia, Skynet in Australia, Defence Connect, 16 May 2016, 20 February 2021,Expeditionary forces
The British Armed Forces place significant importance in the ability to conduct expeditionary warfare.BOOK, Hyde-Price, Adrian (Professor), European Security in the Twenty-First Century: The Challenge of Multipolarity, 9 January 2007, Routledge, 978-1134164400, Chapter - Britain, France and the multipolar challenge,books.google.com/books?id=kqE4ssDSrOAC&q=European+Security+in+the+Twenty-First+Century:+The+Challenge+of+Multipolarity, 26 June 2016, Professor of International Politics, Adrian Hyde-Price, highlights that in the post-Cold War era both Britain and France have re-focused their attention “towards expeditionary warfare and power projection. Power projection has always been an element of British and French military thinking given their residual over seas interests, but it has now moved centre stage.” While the armed forces are expeditionary in nature, it maintains a core of “high readiness” forces trained and equipped to deploy at very short notice, these include; the Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (Royal Navy), 3 Commando Brigade (Royal Marines), and 16 Air Assault Brigade (British Army). Frequently, these forces will act as part of a larger tri-service effort, under the direction of Permanent Joint Headquarters, or along with like-minded allies under the Joint Expeditionary Force. Similarly, under the auspices of NATO, such expeditionary forces are designed to meet Britain’s obligations to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps and other NATO operations.In 2010, the governments of the United Kingdom and France signed the Lancaster House Treaties which committed both governments to the creation of a Franco-British Combined Joint Expeditionary Force.NEWS,www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/nov/02/britain-france-landmark-50-year-defence-deal, London, The Guardian, Patrick, Wintour, Britain and France sign landmark 50-year defence deal, 2 November 2010, 14 December 2016,web.archive.org/web/20170202112114/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/nov/02/britain-france-landmark-50-year-defence-deal, 2 February 2017, live, It is envisaged as a deployable joint force, for use in a wide range of crisis scenarios, up to and including high intensity combat operations. As a joint force it involves all three armed Services: a land component composed of formations at national brigade level, maritime and air components with their associated Headquarters, together with logistics and support functions.WEB,www.number10.gov.uk/news/statements-and-articles/2010/11/uk%E2%80%93france-summit-2010-declaration-on-defence-and-security-co-operation-56519, Tuesday 2 November 2010 UK–France Summit 2010 Declaration on Defence and Security Co-operation, Number10.gov.uk, 26 June 2016,www.number10.gov.uk/news/statements-and-articles/2010/11/uk%e2%80%93france-summit-2010-declaration-on-defence-and-security-co-operation-56519," title="web.archive.org/web/20110705102530www.number10.gov.uk/news/statements-and-articles/2010/11/uk%e2%80%93france-summit-2010-declaration-on-defence-and-security-co-operation-56519,">web.archive.org/web/20110705102530www.number10.gov.uk/news/statements-and-articles/2010/11/uk%e2%80%93france-summit-2010-declaration-on-defence-and-security-co-operation-56519, 5 July 2011, live,The Armed Forces
Royal Navy
File:HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) underway during trials with HMS Sutherland (F81) and HMS Iron Duke (F234) on 28 June 2017 (45162784).jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Queen Elizabeth|R08|6}}, a Queen Elizabeth-class supercarriersupercarrierThe Royal Navy is a technologically sophisticated naval force,WEB,www.royalnavy.mod.uk/, Royal Navy, royalnavy.mod.uk, 1 October 2014,www.royalnavy.mod.uk/," title="web.archive.org/web/20140930153653www.royalnavy.mod.uk/,">web.archive.org/web/20140930153653www.royalnavy.mod.uk/, 30 September 2014, live, and as of May 2024 consists of 66 commissioned ships with an additional 13 support vessels of various types operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Command of deployable assets is exercised by the Fleet Commander of the Naval Service.Fleet Command and Organisation {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202121128www.armedforces.co.uk/navy/listings/l0006.html |date=2 February 2007 }}, armedforces.co.uk Personnel matters are the responsibility of the Second Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, an appointment usually held by a vice-admiral.weblink {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050514111544www.royalnavy.mod.uk/static/content/209.html|date=14 May 2005}}The Surface Fleet consists of aircraft carriers, amphibious warfare ships, destroyers, frigates, patrol vessels, mine-countermeasure vessels, and other miscellaneous vessels. The Surface Fleet has been structured around a single fleet since the abolition of the Eastern and Western fleets in 1971.Hampshire (1975), The Royal Navy Since 1945: its transition to the nuclear age, p248 The recently built Type 45 destroyers are stealthy and technologically advanced air-defence destroyers. The Royal Navy has commissioned two {{sclass|Queen Elizabeth|aircraft carrier|2}}s, embarking an air-group including the advanced fifth-generation multi-role fighter, the F-35B.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6914788.stm, BBC News, MoD confirms £3.8bn carrier order, 25 July 2007, 27 April 2010,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6914788.stm," title="web.archive.org/web/20090911215317news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6914788.stm,">web.archive.org/web/20090911215317news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6914788.stm, 11 September 2009, live, A submarine service has existed within the Royal Navy for more than 100 years. The Submarine Service’s four {{sclass|Vanguard|submarine|0}} nuclear-powered submarines carry Lockheed Martin’s Trident II ballistic missiles, forming the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent. Seven {{sclass|Astute|submarine|0}} nuclear-powered attack submarines have been ordered, with five completed and two under construction. The Astute class are the most advanced and largest fleet submarines ever built for the Royal Navy and will maintain Britain’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet capabilities for decades to come.Royal Marines
The Royal Marines are the Royal Navy’s amphibious troops. Consisting of a single manoeuvre brigade (3 Commando) and various independent units, the Royal Marines specialise in amphibious, arctic, and mountain warfare.BBC News (19 March 2002), “UK’s mountain warfare elite”. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221144849news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1593996.stm |date=21 February 2007 }}. Contained within 3 Commando Brigade are three attached army units; 383 Commando Petroleum Troop RLC, 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, a field artillery regiment based in Plymouth, and 24 Commando Regiment Royal Engineers.WEB,www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regts/the_rifles/rifles_hq/commando_role.htm, The Commando Role for 1 RIFLER, The British Army, 30 January 2007, dead,army.mod.uk/infantry/regts/the_rifles/rifles_hq/commando_role.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20071018102124army.mod.uk/infantry/regts/the_rifles/rifles_hq/commando_role.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20071018102124army.mod.uk/infantry/regts/the_rifles/rifles_hq/commando_role.htm, 18 October 2007, The Commando Logistic Regiment consists of personnel from the Army, Royal Marines, and Royal Navy.WEB, dead,www.royalnavy.mod.uk/static/content/2540.html, Commando Logistic Regiment: About the Regiment, Royal Navy,web.archive.org/web/20050514133822/https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/static/content/2540.html, 14 May 2005,British Army
The British Army is the land force of the British Armed Forces, and is made up of the Regular Army and the part-time Army Reserve. The Army is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff, a four-star general within Army Headquarters, based at Andover.WEB, Command Structure, The British Army,www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/our-people/command-structure/, live,web.archive.org/web/20231216063710/https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/our-people/command-structure/, 16 December 2023, File:ILauncher (within Sky Sabre).jpg|thumb|Sky Sabre (with Land Ceptor missiles) ground-based air defence system as operated by 7th Air Defence Group7th Air Defence GroupDeployable combat formations are;WEB, Formations, Divisions & Brigades, The British Army,www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/formations-divisions-brigades/, live,web.archive.org/web/20231216113424/https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/formations-divisions-brigades/, 16 December 2023, WEB, Future Soldier: Transforming the British Army,www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-soldier-transforming-the-british-army, 25 November 2021, 4 December 2023, GOV.UK, en,- 1st (UK) Division, consisting of 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team and four other Light, Light Mechanised, and Security Force Assistance Brigade Combat Teams, with supporting engineering, logistic, intelligence and signals units.WEB, 31 July 2019, Army restructures to confront evolving threats,www.gov.uk/government/news/army-restructures-to-confront-evolving-threats, 4 December 2023, GOV.UK, en,
- 3rd (UK) Division, consisting of 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team, 7 Air Defence Group, and two Armoured Brigade Combat Teams, with supporting engineering, logistic, intelligence and signals units.
- 6th (UK) Division, consisting of the new Ranger Regiment, in Army Special Operations Brigade; and 77 Brigade, a psychological operations unit.
Royal Air Force
File:Royal Air Force Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon F2 Lofting-1.jpg|thumb|The Eurofighter Typhoon multirole combat aircraftmultirole combat aircraftThe Royal Air Force has a large operational fleet that fulfils various roles, consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.HANSARD, Military Aircraft,publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cm120131/text/120131w0002.htm#120131143001971, House of Commons, 31 January 2012, Nick Harvey, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, 14 April 2019,web.archive.org/web/20170917213512/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cm120131/text/120131w0002.htm#120131143001971, 17 September 2017, live, Frontline aircraft are controlled by Air Command, which is organised into five groups defined by function: 1 Group (Air Combat), 2 Group (Air Support), 11 Group (Air and Space operations),WEB,www.raf.mod.uk/structure/, RAF – Structure, 20 February 2007,www.raf.mod.uk/structure/," title="web.archive.org/web/20070221205633www.raf.mod.uk/structure/,">web.archive.org/web/20070221205633www.raf.mod.uk/structure/, 21 February 2007, dead, 22 Group (training aircraft and ground facilities) and 38 Group (Royal Air Force’s Engineering, Logistics, Communications and Medical Operations units). In addition 83 Expeditionary Air Group directs formations in the Middle East and the 38 Group combines the expeditionary combat support and combat service support units of the RAF. Deployable formations consist of Expeditionary Air Wings and squadrons—the basic unit of the Air Force.Transforming the Royal Air Force {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610172134www.raf.mod.uk/rafcms/mediafiles/628864A8_EC65_BEBF_C4C64EC02534493A.pdf |date=10 June 2007 }}, raf.mod.ukRoyal Air Force Squadrons, raf.mod.uk {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219044631www.raf.mod.uk/structure/squadrons.cfm |date=19 February 2014 }} Independent flights are deployed to facilities in Brunei, the Falkland Islands, Iraq, and the United States.Aircraft Order of Battle, Scramble (magazine) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730094243www.scramble.nl/uk.htm|date=30 July 2012}}The Royal Air Force operates multi-role and single-role fighters, reconnaissance and patrol aircraft, tankers, transports, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and various types of training aircraft.Royal Air Force – Equipment {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217000203www.raf.mod.uk/equipment/ |date=17 February 2007 }}, raf.mod.ukGround units are also maintained by the Royal Air Force, most prominently the RAF Police and the Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regt). The Royal Air Force Regiment essentially functions as the ground defence force of the RAF, optimised for the specialist role of fighting on and around forward airfields, which are densely packed with operationally vital aircraft, equipment, infrastructure and personnel.The Royal Air Force Regiment, raf.mod.uk {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005150508www.raf.mod.uk/structure/rafregiment.cfm |date=5 October 2012 }} The Regiment contains nine regular squadrons, supported by five squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment. In addition, it provides Forward Air Controllers to defence as well as a contribution to the Special Forces Support Group.WEB, Forward Air Controllers {{!, British FAC {{!}} JTAC |url=https://www.eliteukforces.info/forward-air-controllers/ |access-date=4 December 2023 |website=www.eliteukforces.info}}WEB, Immersive Close Air Support Simulator delivered to British military - UPI.com,www.upi.com/Defense-News/2015/04/01/British-military-gets-simulator-training-system-from-Selex-ES/1751427897019/, 4 December 2023, UPI, en,Ministry of Defence
File:RFA Argus, FS Meuse and RS Regina Maria at anchor in the Solent, in readiness for the International Fleet Review. MOD 45145024.jpg|thumb|{{ship|RFA|Argus|A135|6}} (left), the fleet’s aviation training and hospital shiphospital shipThe Ministry of Defence maintains a number of civilian agencies in support of the British Armed Forces. Although they are civilian, they play a vital role in supporting Armed Forces operations, and in certain circumstances are under military discipline:- The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) operates 13 ships which primarily serve to replenish Royal Navy warships at sea, and also augment the Royal Navy’s amphibious warfare capabilities through its three {{sclass2|Bay|landing ship dock}} vessels. It is manned by 1,750 civilian personnel and is funded and run by the Ministry of Defence.
- The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) has an established strength of 2,700 police officers which provide armed security, counter terrorism, uniformed policing and investigative services to Ministry of Defence property, personnel, and installations throughout the United Kingdom.
- The Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is the merged procurement and support organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). It came into being on 2 April 2007, bringing together the MoD’s Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation under the leadership of General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue as the first Chief of Defence Materiel. {{As of|2012}} it has a civilian and military workforce of approx. 20,000 personnel. DE&S is overseen by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology.
- The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is an organisation within the UK government responsible for providing navigational and other hydrographic information for national, civil and defence requirements. The UKHO is located in Taunton, Somerset, on Admiralty Way and has a workforce of approximately 1,000 staff.
Recruitment
{{Further|Recruitment in the British Army}}File:Royal Marine During Passing Out Parade MOD 45154046.jpg|thumb|A newly qualified Royal Marine of 122 Troop Kings Squad is pictured during a passing out parade in 2011, having undergone the recruitment process and selection and training]]All three services of the British Armed Forces recruit primarily from within the United Kingdom, although citizens from the Commonwealth of Nations and the Republic of Ireland are equally eligible to join.Evans (2005), How British Army is fast becoming foreign legion {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529145600www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article589974.ece |date=29 May 2010 }}, timesonline.co.uk The minimum recruitment age is 16 years (although personnel may not serve on armed operations below 18 years, and if under 18 must also have parental consent to join); the maximum recruitment age depends whether the application is for a regular or reserve role; there are further variations in age limit for different corps/regiments. The normal term of engagement is 22 years; however, the minimum service required before resignation is 4 years, plus, in the case of the Army, any service person below the age of 18.BBC News (6 January 2007), “Recruitment Age for Army Raised”. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208183807news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6236345.stm |date=8 February 2012 }}. At present, the yearly intake into the armed forces is 11,880 (per the 12 months to 31 March 2014).UK Armed Forces Quarterly Personnel Report {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204554www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/310468/quarterly_personnel_report_apr14.pdf |date=14 July 2014 }}, gov.uk, 1 April 2014Excluding the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Royal Irish Regiment, as of 1 April 2014 there are approximately 11,200 Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) persons serving as Regulars across the three service branches; of those, 6,610 were recruited from outside the United Kingdom. In total, Black and Minority Ethnic persons represent 7.1% of all service personnel, an increase from 6.6% in 2010.Since the year 2000, sexual orientation has not been a factor considered in recruitment, and homosexuals can serve openly in the armed forces. All branches of the forces have actively recruited at Gay Pride events.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4189634.stm, Army marches with Pride parade, BBC News, 27 August 2005, 6 November 2009,news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4189634.stm," title="web.archive.org/web/20060218115212news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4189634.stm,">web.archive.org/web/20060218115212news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4189634.stm, 18 February 2006, live, WEB,www.pridelondon.org/blog.php?b=1216, The LGBT community in the Armed Forces, 11 June 2008, London Gay Pride official website, 6 November 2009, dead,www.pridelondon.org/blog.php?b=1216," title="web.archive.org/web/20140227165621www.pridelondon.org/blog.php?b=1216,">web.archive.org/web/20140227165621www.pridelondon.org/blog.php?b=1216, 27 February 2014, The forces keep no formal figures concerning the number of gay and lesbian serving soldiers, saying that the sexual orientation of personnel is considered irrelevant and not monitored.NEWS,www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article559936.ece, Army on parade for gay recruits, Jonathan, Leake, Philip Cardy, The Times, 6 November 2009, 28 August 2005, London,www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article559936.ece," title="web.archive.org/web/20100529145528www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article559936.ece,">web.archive.org/web/20100529145528www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article559936.ece, 29 May 2010, live,Role of women
{{Further|Women in the military by country#United Kingdom}}File:Hrh Princess Elizabeth in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, April 1945 TR2832.jpg|thumb|right|Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) in the Auxiliary Territorial ServiceAuxiliary Territorial ServiceWomen have been part of the armed forces, on and off, for centuries, more fully integrated since the early 1990s, including flying fast jets and commanding warships or artillery batteries. As of 1 April 2014, there were approximately 15,840 women serving in the armed forces, representing 9.9% of all service personnel. The first female military pilot was Flight Lieutenant Julie Ann Gibson while Flight Lieutenant Jo Salter was the first fast-jet pilot, the latter flying a Tornado GR1 on missions patrolling the then Northern Iraqi No-Fly Zone.NEWS, Haynes, Deborah, Deborah Haynes, 23 May 2009, The Top Gun girl and the Tornado fast jet, The Times, London,www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-top-gun-girl-and-the-tornado-fast-jet-svdtwdzbm8b, live, subscription, 31 March 2011,www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6344981.ece," title="web.archive.org/web/20110512175444www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6344981.ece,">web.archive.org/web/20110512175444www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6344981.ece, 12 May 2011, Flight Lieutenant Juliette Fleming and Squadron Leader Nikki Thomas recently{{when|date=February 2024}} were the first Tornado GR4 crew.Tornados and Taliban are all in a day’s work {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513182051www.thisisdevon.co.uk/news/Tornados-Taliban-day-s-work-Nikki-navigator/article-1652922-detail/article.html |date=13 May 2011 }}. This is Devon (29 December 2009). Retrieved on 24 August 2013. While enforcing the Libyan No-Fly Zone, Flight Lieutenant Helen Seymour was identified as the first female Eurofighter Typhoon pilot.NEWS,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8402845/First-woman-to-fly-Typhoon-enforces-no-fly-zone.html, London, The Daily Telegraph, Nick, Collins, First woman to fly Typhoon enforces no-fly-zone, 24 March 2011, 5 April 2018,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8402845/First-woman-to-fly-Typhoon-enforces-no-fly-zone.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20180211152403www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8402845/First-woman-to-fly-Typhoon-enforces-no-fly-zone.html,">web.archive.org/web/20180211152403www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8402845/First-woman-to-fly-Typhoon-enforces-no-fly-zone.html, 11 February 2018, live, In August 2011, it was announced that a female lieutenant commander, Sarah West, was to command the frigate {{HMS|Portland|F79|6}}.NEWS,www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14444808, BBC News, Royal Navy appoints first female warship commander, 8 August 2011, 21 July 2018,web.archive.org/web/20181112195203/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14444808, 12 November 2018, live, In July 2016, it was announced that women would be allowed to serve in close combat, starting with the Royal Armoured Corps.NEWS,www.gov.uk/government/news/ban-on-women-in-ground-close-combat-roles-lifted, UK Ministry of Defence, Ban on women in ground close combat roles lifted, 8 July 2016, 15 July 2016,web.archive.org/web/20160709150054/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ban-on-women-in-ground-close-combat-roles-lifted, 9 July 2016, live, In July 2017, the Secretary of Defence announced that women would be allowed to enlist in the RAF Regiment from September 2017, a year ahead of schedule.NEWS,www.gov.uk/government/news/raf-opens-close-combat-role-to-women-ahead-of-schedule, UK Ministry of Defence, RAF opens close combat role to women ahead of schedule, 13 July 2017, 13 July 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170728225958/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/raf-opens-close-combat-role-to-women-ahead-of-schedule, 28 July 2017, live, In 2018, women were allowed to apply for all roles in the British military, including the special forces.NEWS, Lizzie Dearden Home Affairs Correspondent @lizziedearden,www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/women-soldiers-army-military-sas-defence-government-infantry-frontline-gavin-williamson-female-a8601371.html, Women now allowed to apply for Royal Marines and all other frontline military roles, defence secretary announces, The Independent, 25 October 2018,web.archive.org/web/20181025225835/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/women-soldiers-army-military-sas-defence-government-infantry-frontline-gavin-williamson-female-a8601371.html, 25 October 2018, live, {{as of|2022|August|11}}, the most senior serving woman is three-star Lieutenant General Dame Sharon Nesmith.March
See also
- Armed Forces Day (United Kingdom)
- List of military equipment of the United Kingdom
- Atholl Highlanders – The only legal private army in Europe under the command of the Duke of Atholl in Scotland
- Banknotes of the British Armed Forces
- British Forces Broadcasting Service
- Community Cadet Forces
- Military Covenant – The mutual obligations between the nation and its Armed Forces.
- Network-enabled capability – British military concept of achieving enhanced military effect through the better use of information systems. Similar to the US concept of network-centric warfare.
- The Championships, WimbledonServices stewards
- Uniforms of the British Armed Forces
- Military history of Scotland
- Armed forces in Scotland
- Armed forces of Wales
Notes
{{notelist}}References
{{Reflist}}External links
{{Commons category|Military of the United Kingdom}}{{wiktionary|Appendix:Glossary of British military slang and expressions}}- British Ministry of Defence (gov.uk)
- da.mod.uk/mk" title="web.archive.org/web/20091204170712da.mod.uk/mk">Defence Academy of the United Kingdom (.da.mod.uk)
- Royal Navy official website (royalnavy.mod.uk)
- Royal Marines official webpage (royalnavy.mod.uk)
- British Army official website (army.mod.uk)
- Royal Air Force official website (raf.mod.uk)
- content above as imported from Wikipedia
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- "British Armed Forces" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
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