Today
The British Armed Forces is a professional force with a strength in July 2012 of 184,160 regular and 36,190 volunteer reserve personnel. This gives a combined component strength of 220,350 personnel. In addition there were 181,720 regular reserves from all services of the British Armed Forces. The British Armed Forces constitute the second-largest military in the European Union in terms of professional personnel.
Britain has the fourth-largest defence budget in the world. The United States, China and Russia have larger defence expenditures, whilst France and Japan have a comparable expenditure. 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."
However by 2012 there was a £63 billion gap between the ten year plan for defence spending and the available funds for it.
Read more about this topic: British Armed Forces
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone; You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
“This world crisis came about without women having anything to do with it. If the women of the world had not been excluded from world affairs, things today might have been different.”
—Alice Paul (1885–1977)