After years of warnings by military chiefs that the UK's capabilities were shrinking, the Iran war left Britain's armed services exposed. This put pressure on Keir starmer, Prime Minister, to make good on his promise to invest in defence. After a British military base in Cyprus was struck by a drone in the early stages of the Iran conflict, in March, Britain's navy, which was the largest at the beginning of World War II, took three full weeks to send a warship to?eastern Mediterranean. France, Greece and Italy all sent warships within a few days to Cyprus. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has taken note of Britain's reduced military capability. He called Britain's two air carriers "toys", while his defence minister, Pete Hegseth mocked the "big bad Royal Navy".

Starmer, defending his record in the military, said that his government had increased the military budget by the most since the Cold War.

The British military is now about half its size and is at the smallest level since the early nineteenth century.

Here are some details about the current state of the country and its capabilities.

ROYAL NAVY

The Royal Navy of Britain has 38,000 members. The Royal Navy has two aircraft carriers, and a fleet of 13 destroyers or frigates.

The number of aircraft carriers, destroyers and frigates has decreased from the 1991 level of 62,000 personnel and three aircraft carriers.

The Navy's "available surface fleet" was criticized for the delays in sending a ship to Cyprus.

HMS Dragon, an air defence destroyer of Type 45, arrived on the eastern Mediterranean coast on 23 March. The Royal Navy, since the start of the Iran War, has been upgrading RFA Lime Bay in order to improve its minehunting capabilities and autonomy.

This deployment is comparable to the Gulf War of 1990-91 when the Royal Navy deployed 21 surface ships, two submarines and?11 Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships to the area.

The reduced?fleet is the result of decades of defence funding cuts since the early 90s. In 1990, 3.8% of the gross domestic product (GDP) was spent on military expenditures compared to 2.3% in 2024.

HMS Lancaster, a British warship that had been in the Middle East since the 1960s, was decommissioned just weeks before Iran's war began in Bahrain.

Royal Navy destroyers need maintenance while the frigates are being retired. In the next few years, a fleet of 13 Type 26 and Type 31 new frigates will enter service. The Royal Navy has also been stretched by Russian threats that are closer to home. British warships spent a month tracking Russian submarines in the North Atlantic.

Around a fifth (or £50 million) of the British defence budget goes towards nuclear submarines. The Trident nuclear deterrent consists of four Vanguard class submarines. According to the Continuous At Sea Deterrence?policy at least one submarine is always on patrol.

In the early 2030s, Dreadnought class submarines will replace Vanguard class.

ROYAL AIR FORMATION

The RAF has over 150 fighter planes, of which two-thirds are Eurofighter Typhoons. The RAF has an estimated permanent staff of 31,000. In 1991, there were about 800 fast-jet fighters and 88,000 personnel in the RAF. During the 1990-1991 Gulf War it sent 157 aircraft, including more than 80 fighter jets, to the area.

Before the Iran War began, Britain sent four Typhoons, a joint RAF-Qatar unit, and six F-35s, to Cyprus. The U.S.,?Israeli and British strikes on Iran prompted the UK to send four additional Typhoons in early March.

Starmer, who has permitted defensive missions to protect residents in the region, which includes British citizens, is not directly involved with the conflict currently taking place.

The British army has a strength of 74,000 full-time soldiers, down from 148,000 personnel in 1991.

The number of main combat tanks has decreased from around 1,200 at end of Cold War, to about 150 currently in operation.

(source: Reuters)