One fifth of British armed forces 'unfit to fight', Ministry of Defence admits
24 December 2024, 05:50 | Updated: 24 December 2024, 05:54
Nearly a fifth of the armed forces are unfit to fight without any restrictions, the Ministry of Defence has said.
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Some 10,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators are medically unfit to serve in combat, while another 15,000 can only go to war under certain circumstances.
Restrictions include the weather being right and not being exposed to too much noise.
In the army, nearly a quarter of all soldiers and officers are not able to fight without restrictions - over 16,000 "medically not deployable" or "medically limited deployable" out of 71,340 active personnel.
In the navy, some 3,000 sailors cannot serve in active combat under any circumstances.
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In the RAF, some 3,721 personnel members out of a total of 27,969 cannot serve.
The figures were released by junior defence minister Al Carns following questions submitted by the Conservatives.
It comes after Mr Carns warned earlier this month that the army would be wiped out in six months to a year if fighting a major war.
Mark Francois, the Conservative former defence minister, told the Times that the figures were "deeply worrying".
He said: "Not only has the army now shrunk to just over 71,000 soldiers, almost 2,000 below its established strength [but] of those, almost a quarter are not medically fully deployable.
“This requires urgent action, not just regarding recruitment and retention but also remedial action, especially physiotherapy, to ensure our remaining soldiers are truly fighting fit.”
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An MoD spokeswoman said: “The vast majority of our service personnel — around 90 per cent — are deployable at any point, with most of the remaining members of our armed forces employed in wider military roles.
“We are committed to providing world-class medical treatment to ensure personnel can return to duty where possible, or to support their transition to civilian life.”
MoD statistics from April 2024 showed the Army fell below its target size for the first time since it was set, meaning all three service branches are currently below target: the Army by 1%, the RN/RM by 5% and the RAF by 10%.
Overall, the UK armed forces were 5,440 personnel (1%) below target.
Following details of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, there has been speculation that the UK could be considering sending troops to Ukraine to help train its armed forces.
Last week, Defence Secretary John Healey said it is a "critical period" for Ukraine and pledged that the UK would be "stepping up" help.
Earlier in December, veterans minister Mr Carns, who is also a reservist, issued the warning as he spoke of the importance of rebuilding the UK's reserve forces.
During a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, Mr Carns said: "In a war of scale - not a limited intervention, but one similar to Ukraine - our army for example on the current casualty rates would be expended - as part of a broader multinational coalition - in six months to a year.”
He said the casualty rate suffered by Russian forces in Ukraine - killed and injured - is around 1,500 soldiers a day.
He said this ability to absorb such losses and keep fighting is part of Russia's plan and is why Britain needs to rebuild the depth of fighting forces it has available.
Meanwhile retention is also an issue for the armed forces - military personnel are quitting at high rates despite a pay rise from Labour.
Around 15,000 people left the military in the year to October, 7,778 of which were declared “voluntary outflow” - meaning they left the Armed Forces of their own accord. Only 12,000 joined over the same period.
