Are the British Armed Forces up to the job?

Question

I totally admire and respect the people serving our country in what must be very difficult circumstances, I constantly hear of cuts and personally feel that at some stage we'll have to have a major expansion of our armed forces which will render these cuts pointless. Say there was a war with Russia or confrontation with China as part of a Taiwan crisis, do you think the Royal Navy as small as it has become, the Royal Air Force or even the British Army which is overstretched as it is could defend us and the rest of Europe or help the Americans in the Pacific?

Thanks for answering.

Answer 1

When you look at the official figures for HM Forces they really do look fantastic. An overall figure of 500,000 personnel should leave no one in doubt as to the strength of our armed forces.

It's when you do the number crunching that you realise how stretched and how small the "fighting" units really are.

The Army has around 106,000 personnel. About 30,000 of that figure form the frontline regiments.

The Royal Marines have a strength of about 7,500.

That leaves the RAF Regiment who are now classed as frontline with 9 Squadrons following the cutbacks of 2003 when they lost 6 Squadrons. Their strength is about 1,000 personnel.

So in reality we have a total frontline strength of about 38,500 personnel. We are ranked in 26th place in the global league of forces strength. HM Forces are losing more personnel per year than they are recruiting. Most recruitment is taking place within support units - not frontline, most of which are suffering a resignation rate between 25 & 35% and a recruitment rate of about 15%.

When you have senior officers within HM Forces warning of overstretching and Commanding officers lodging formal objections over deploying their units severely understrength then you have a major problem.

The time between deployments for frontline units to Iraq or Afghanistan is now down to between 11 and 15 months. To expect these men to then become embroiled in another theatre of war is to expect too much.

Answer 2

Well said One Shot.

The best trained, yet most under-resourced forces on the planet, under the most mealy mouthed pathetic government(s).

To answer the broader question, also remember that our armed forces are not designed to be a total war fighting force.

Since the defence cuts of the 1970's they have been designed to do specialist jobs as part of an American led NATO force.

Thats why in the Falklands we had to make it up as we went along, using car ferries and cruise liners as troop ships and a container ship as a helicopter carrier.

The Royal Navy had been shaped and designed as an Anti Submarine force, which wasn't particularly useful against fighter bombers.    

Answer 3

the correct and truthful answer is BARELY.

As long as we are nae up against Russia or china or the like we wull be fine, we are a tiny land and no longer a world power with an iron fist. so we must mind ourselves and be very careful no to upset the real players

Answer 4

no matter what we will always defend our country,we always have,even when our backs are up against the wall,yes we might not be as big,but we are in spirit,and we will never give in,so in that respect i think they will always defend us,i have relatives who are in the military,marines and the navy,i also don't agree with the shortages our lads face with kit etc,but they try and make as best they can,with what they have got,its not right for those who have lost there lives through it,and i think the government have made improvements,because of the public out cry,they need the best to be the best,i think it is to far gone now,to many wars,its becoming the norm,i hope for world peAce,

Answer 5

The cuts in manpower have stopped (at last), someone has switched on to the fact that there is no replacement for manpower. The RAF are gaining a few hundred extra people, the army are looking at an extra 3000 or so. Don't think there will be much extra for the navy though. Whether the get the cash for the extra bods don't know. At the moment we could leave to help theamericans in the pacific too over stretched.

Answer 6

Hi - Let me put your mind at rest.  The British Armed Services are indeed up to the job.  There is however sometimes a problem with logistics which can result in too few of something being sent to the front line where they are needed.

This happened in the case of the Chinook helicopters which were ordered but for some reason remained in store back here in the UK.

On order right now to be built at the mighty Goven Scottish shipyards on the Clyde - are two state of the art Royal Navy aircraft carriers of the Queen Elizabeth Class.

Info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Eliza...

The Royal Air Force have taken delivery of the Euro Fighter - Typhoon.  Nothing comes close to this aeroplane which is the only fighter able to perform aerobatics at supersonic speed.

Euro Fighter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZfftwmq9...

The world's largest industrial military complex is the Royal Dockyard Portsmouth - this in spite of what you may have heard.

HMNB Portsmouth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMNB_Portsm...

The British are armed to the teeth and form a formidable fighting force.  This is especially so when we are joined together with allies and in particular when with the Americans.

SAS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRVRl3S7Z...

Both China and Russia remain allies in the war on Terror.

No matter what.

Chinese Special Forces in Russia c2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29vjzVCzZ...

Chinese Special Forces in training [year unknown]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY5BisLJi...

Battle of Trafalgar 200 - HMS Victory fires full broadside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiRbJRNKy...

Answer 7

I don't know about the size of the British armed forces, but as an old timey Paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, I had a chance to train with the British SAS and I can tell you that it's about the toughest outfit I've ever trained with including our own elite forces.

thanks

Answer 8

Agree with one shot.

The numbers on paper look impressive but of all of these actual teeth arms are a very good, but very small part.

The lack of servicable equipment is hitting troops on curent deployment hard and has done since the end of the cold war when politicians saw fit to cut costs but keep the troop commitments the same. Also contracting out large parts of what used to be a purely military job, catering, military hospitals, mechanics etc.  is also affecting operational capabilities. the Americans are also seeing the cost of this in Iraq, they have to employ private security companies to cover roles which were previously military. (state dept protection for 1 example)

In addition I believe that British society is not the same as it was 20 years ago, when I joined the Army I had spent my childhood climbing trees and palying football, sadly the majority of recruits the Army has now struggle to meet the minimum fitness requirements for getting in just to start basic training. They are now known as "the Playstation Generation" who grew up playing video games.

In summary, Yes we have a formidable fighting force thanks to the indiviuals who serve our country, but we could be better with the right support from the government.

Answer 9

I fully support what one shot has posted.  This is a balanced and very good answer, without national pride getting in the way.  This does not mean that I am not proud of our forces, very much to the contrary.

Son and daughter serving.

Answer 10

ask any country in the world who they would pick to have cover their back, and most would  pick the British, not because their the biggest, but because their the Best,

spot on One Shot thank your son and his mates from me and mine,

Is it cold down there in Chilly Jock ?

Answer 11

It will be useless,this is the phase of Capitalism´s decline, UK and USA will face the insurrection of their Working Class.

We, Bolsheviks, love crisis.

Btw, UK is also on the verge of bankruptcy, isn't it?

Answer 12

I'm just going to write what other people have missed

our infantry is the most highly trained in the world, we do have very good equipment (don't listen to the media) and the standard issue rifle we use the SA-80 is the most reliable gun used by NATO forces and it has many advantages over other guns because of the bullpup design

we have the one of the largest if not the largest military in europe

the british armed forces have the 3rd highest budget in the world

our navy is the 2nd largest in the world in terms of gross tonnage

the navy has won a contract for the most advanced radar system on the planet

the navy has recently introduced the type 45 destroyer and is bringing new aircraft carriers and submarines in the near future, the aircraft carriers will carry the f-35b which is a world class jet

the RAF have the eurofighter typhoon which is arguably the best fighter jet in the world they are also getting some f-35b's in the near future, they are also looking at replacing their tornados

and we do have the best special forces in the world

Answer 13

Yes, contrary to popular belief it is not over stretched, the payout for blown of limbs has been increased by a lot, military housing is increasing, and the royal navy is getting 2 new VERY big boats, Also you forget that because of our small size we have to have strong troops, so while we are kind of small, we are VERY strong.

Answer 14

yes in a movie but not real world war against china/russia,  

Answer 15

The British forces are definitely up to the job!The underlying question is

Is the British government up to the mark in supporting these brave men and women? And show them the respect they deserve!

Or is this government only interested in! How much they can get out of the expenses pot at the taxpayers expense!