The British Armed Forces is a professional force with a strength in January 2015 of 156,940 Regular*[2] and
Welsh GuardsTrooping the Colour 2007
30,000 Volunteer Reservepersonnel.*[2]This gives a to-
tal strength of 186,940 Service Personnel.*[2]In addition,
all ex-Regular personnel retain a“statutory liability for ser- vice”and are liable to be recalled (under Section 52 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 1996) for duty in a time of need, this is known as the Regular Reserve. How- ever, 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 sim- ilar in nature to those of the Volunteer Reserve.*[4] As
of 2014, regular Reserves serving under a fixed-term con- tract numbered 45,110 personnel in 2014.*[3]All person-
nel figures exclude theMilitary Provost Guard Serviceand theUniversity Training Units; the University Royal Naval Unit, theOfficers' Training Corpsand theUniversity Air Squadron.
Britain has thefifth or sixth-largest defence budgetin the world,*[54]with the country spending more than countries
like Germany or Japan but more or less comparable to that of France or Saudi Arabia. In September 2011, according to 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 2020’s, and possibly beyond.”*[55]
In the 2013 Spending Review, theChancellor of the Exche- quer,George Osborne, reinforced the government's com- mitment to the 2010 SDSR and stated the £38bn “black hole”in the defence budget had been filled, that at over 2% of GDP, the defence budget will remain one of the largest in the world, the equipment budget will grow by 1% in real terms every year after 2015, that there will be further reduc- tions in the civilian MoD workforce, PFI contracts signed in
the last decade would be renegotiated, the way equipment is purchased is to be overhauled, and a greater commitment to cyber warfare.*[56]
The Royal Air Force established an air transport and re- fuelling hub at Al-Minhad in the United Arab Emirates in 2013. The following year, theForeign and Commonwealth Officeannounced it would expand the UK's naval facilities in Bahrain to support larger Royal Navy ships deployed to thePersian Gulf. Once complete, it will be the UK's first permanent military base located East of Suez since it with- drew from the region in 1971. The base will reportedly be large enough to accommodateType 45 destroyersand Queen Elizabeth classaircraft carriers.*[57]*[58]*[59]
2.2.1
Command organisation
As Sovereign and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Armed Forces*[60]and theirCommander-in-
Chief.*[1] Long-standing constitutional convention, how-
ever, has vested de facto executive authority, by the exer- cise ofRoyal Prerogative powers, in thePrime Ministerand theSecretary of State for Defence, and the Prime Minister (acting with the support of theCabinet) makes the key deci- sions on the use of the armed forces. The Queen, however, remains the ultimate authority of the military, with officers and personnel swearingallegianceto the monarch. It has been claimed that this includes the power to prevent un- constitutional use of the armed forces, including its nuclear weapons.*[61]
TheMinistry of Defencebuilding in central London: headquarters of the Armed Forces
TheMinistry of Defenceis the Government department and highest level of military headquarters charged with formu- lating and executing defence policy for the Armed Forces; it currently employs over 60,000 civilians as of 2014. This number will be reduced to just 55,000 by 2015 (a reduction of 25,000 as per the October 2010 SDSR) and then again to 48,000 by 2020 (a reduction of 7,000 as per the Three
Month Review in 2011).*[62]The department is controlled
by the Secretary of State for Defenceand contains three deputy appointments: Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Minister for Defence Procurement, and Minister for Veterans' Affairs.
Responsibility for the management of the forces is dele- gated 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 BoardandAir Force Board) are chaired by the Secretary of State for De- fence.
The Chief of the Defence Staffis the professional head of the Armed Forces and is an appointment that can be held by anAdmiral, Air Chief Marshalor General. Be- fore 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 (a5-star rank).*[63]The CDS, along with the Permanent Under Sec-
retary, are the principal advisers to the departmental min- ister. The three services have their own respective profes- sional chiefs: theFirst Sea Lord, theChief of the General Staffand theChief of the Air Staff.
Personnel are based in a number of overseas territories, though internal security for the majority is provided solely by small police forces. Garrisons and facilities exist in Ascension Island, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands,
Gibraltar, and the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus.*[9]
These deployments accounted for over 5,000 personnel in 2006.*[44]Locally raised units are maintained inBermuda
(The Bermuda Regiment), the Falkland Islands (Falkland Islands Defence Force), and Gibraltar (Royal Gibraltar Regiment). Though their primary mission is “home de- fence”, individuals have volunteered for operational du- ties. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment has recently mobilised section-sized units for attachment to regiments deployed to Iraq.*[64]*[65]
2.2.2
Weapons of mass destruction
Main article: United Kingdom and weapons of mass de- struction
The United Kingdom is one of only five recognised nu- clear weapon states under theNon-Proliferation Treatyand maintains an independent nuclear deterrent, currently con- sisting of fourVanguard-class ballistic missile submarines. This is known as theUK Trident programmeand delivers a 'continuous at sea deterrent' capability.*[66]Nomencla-
ATrident II SLBMbeing launched from aVanguard class ballistic
missile submarine.
submarine-launched ballistic missilethat is used to deliver the nuclear warheads. Estimates of the United Kingdom's nuclear stockpile put it at approximately 225 nuclear war- heads in total, with 160 of those being active.
Asuccessor programmeis currently in its early stages with a final decision to be made in 2016. It primarily seeks to re- place the Vangaurd-class submarines with a new generation of SSBNs, however, the programme will also extend the life of the UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missiles, refurbish the nuclear warheads and modernise existing infrastructure as- sociated with the deterrent.*[67]
Former weapons of mass destruction possessed by the United Kingdom include both biological and chemical weapons. These were renounced in 1956 and subsequently destroyed.
2.2.3
UK Joint Expeditionary Force
The UK Joint Expeditionary Force, not to be confused with the similarly named UK-FrenchCombined Joint Ex- peditionary Force, was announced in December 2012 by the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir David Richards.*[68]It is designed to be an integrated joint force,
with capabilities across the spectrum at sea, on land and in the air, with the aspiration being greater levels of inte- gration than previously achieved especially when combined
with other nations' armed forces. Of variable size, it is in- tended to be the basis of all the UK armed forces' combined joint training; a framework into which other nations will fit. It will be the core of the UK's contribution to any military action, whetherNATO, coalition or independent. Together with Command and Control elements including HQAllied Rapid Reaction Corpsand the maritime component HQ at Northwood, the force is designed to meet the UK's obliga- tions to NATO.