Armed Forces - m03 - Management of Defence - Total British Armed Forces - Strategic Forces - Royal Navy - British Army

TOTAL BRITISH ARMED FORCES

OVERVIEW (as at 1 April 2007)

Regular Forces
Royal Navy 38,860 (includes 7,400 Royal Marines)
Army 106,200 (excludes approximately 3,360 Gurkhas)
Royal Air Force 45,360
Total Regular Forces

190,420 (excludes approximately 3,360 Gurkhas)

Regular Reserves
Volunteer Reserves 39,600
Cadet Forces 132,700
Total Regular Reserves 201,650
MoD Civilians 98,050
(figures include all trained and untrained personnel)


STRATEGIC FORCES


4 x Vanguard Class submarines each with 16 x Trident (D5) Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBM) deploying with 48 x warheads per submarine. If necessary a D5 missile could deploy with 12 x MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles). Future plans appear to be for a stockpile of 200 operationally available warheads and 58 missile bodies. Strategic Forces are provided by the Royal Navy.

ROYAL NAVY

38,860 personnel (includes 7,400 Royal Marines)

10 x Tactical Submarines
3 x Aircraft Carriers
1 x Helicopter Carrier
2 x Assault Ships
3 x Landing Ships
26 x Destroyers and Frigates
16 x Mine Warfare Vessels
5 x Survey Ships
24 x Patrol Craft
1 x Antarctic Patrol Ship

Naval Aircraft

2 x Fixed wing (Harrier GR7/GR9) squadrons
8 x Helicopter squadrons with:
38 x Merlin Helicopters
12 x Sea King MK6
23 x Lynx Helicopters
11 x AEW Sea King Helicopters
41 x Sea King Commando Helicopters
6 x Lynx Helicopters
8 x Gazelle Helicopters - Anti Tank role

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

2 x Fast fleet tankers
3 x Small fleet tankers
4 x Support tankers
4 x Replenishment ships
1 x Aviation training ship
1 x Forward repair ship
6 x Ro-Ro Ships (4 under civil management)

Royal Marines

1 x Commando Brigade Headquarters
3 x Royal Marine Commando (Battalion Size)
3 x Commando Assault Helicopter Squadrons
1 x Commando Light Helicopter Squadron
1 x Commando Logistic Regiment
1 x Commando Assault Group (Landing-Craft)
1 x Fleet Protection Group
4 x Special Boat Service Squadrons
Supported by the following army major units:
1 x Commando Regiment Royal Artillery
1 x Commando Regiment Royal Engineers
1 x Infantry Battalion (1 Rifles)

MERCHANT NAVY

Merchant Naval Vessels Registered in the UK, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories:

24 x Cruise ships (over 200 tons)
541 x Passenger and dry cargo merchant vessels
5 x Roll-on roll-off passenger (over 200 berths)
47 x Roll-on roll-off freight (over 500 lane metres)
223 x General cargo (over 1,000 deadweight tons)
60 x Refrigerated cargo (over 1,000 deadweight tons)
102 x Container (over 100 twenty foot containers)
195 x Product and chemical tankers (2,000 to 80,000 dead weight tons)
31 x Large fishing vessels (over 2,000 horse power)

ARMY

106,200 trained and untrained personnel (but excluding 3,360 Gurkhas)

1 x Corps Headquarters in Germany (ARRC)
1 x Armoured Divisional HQ in Germany
1 x Mechanised Divisional HQ in UK
3 x Non-deployable divisional type HQ in UK
3 x Armoured Brigade HQ (to be two by mid 2008) - Germany
1 x Logistics Brigade HQ - Germany
4 x Deployable Combat Brigade HQ - UK
1 x Logistics Brigade HQ - UK
10 x Regional Brigade HQ - UK

Major Units

11 x Armoured Regiments
36 x Infantry Battalions
15 x Artillery Regiments
14 x Engineer Regiments
12 x Signal Regiments
4 x Army Air Corps Regiments
7 x Equipment Support Battalions
18 x Logistic Regiments
5 x Medical Regiments
3 x Field Hospitals

TERRITORIAL ARMY

32,150 (1 April 2006)

14 x Infantry Battalions
4 x Yeomanry Regiments
7 x Artillery Regiments
5 x Engineer Regiments
2 x Special Air Service Regiments
11 x Signals Regiments
4 x Equipment Support Battalions
15 x Logistics Regiments
2 x Intelligence Battalions
2 x Army Air Corps Regiments
12 x Field Hospitals
3 x Medical Regiments
2 x Military Police Battalions

ROYAL AIR FORCE

45,360 personnel

5 x Strike/Attack Squadrons (includes 1 x Reserve Squadron)
1 x Offensive Support Squadron
4 x Air Defence Squadrons
3 x Maritime Patrol Squadrons (includes 1 x Reserve Squadron)
5 x Reconnaissance Squadrons
2 x Airborne Early Warning Squadrons
9 x Transport and Tankers Squadrons
10 x Helicopter Squadrons
4 x Surface to Air Missile Squadrons
6 x Ground (Field) Defence Squadrons

JOINT FORCES

Joint Force Harrier

2 x Royal Navy Squadrons
2 x Royal Air Force Squadrons

Joint Helicopter Command

4 x Royal Naval Helicopter Squadrons
6 x Army Aviation Regiments (including 1 x Volunteer Reserve)
7 x Royal Air Force Helicopter Squadrons (including 1 x RAuxAF Helicopter Support Squadron)

Joint Special Forces Group

1 x Regular Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment
2 x Volunteer Reserve Special Air Service Regiments
4 x Special Boat Service (SBS) Squadrons
1 x Special Reconnaissance Regiment
1 x Special Forces Support Group

1 x Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Regiment

NATIONAL POLICE FORCES

England and Wales 125,000
Scotland 14,000
Northern Ireland 11,000