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Air force personnel	52,540		[9th of 49]
Armed forces growth	-36		[106th of 132]
Armed forces personnel	212,000		[23rd of 166]
Army personnel	113,900		[21st of 49]
Branches Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force
Conscription No conscription (WRI).
Conventional arms exports	$985,000,000.00		[4th of 40]
Conventional arms imports	$171,000,000.00		[30th of 85]
expenditure > % of GDP	2.59 %		[26th of 145]
Expenditures > Dollar figure	$42,836,500,000.00		[3rd of 111]
Exports to developing nations	$42,816.00 million		[2nd of 7]
Gulf War Coalition Forces	45,400		[3rd of 30]
Iraq Coalition casualties	113		[2nd of 18]
Iraq coalition forces > Troop strength	8,000		[2nd of 10]
Manpower > Availability > Males age 15-49	14,877,700		[20th of 175]
Navy personnel	44,500		[10th of 49]
personnel	217,000		[28th of 170]
Service age and obligation 16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 16 years of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of the Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens
WMD > Missile The United Kingdom's sole nuclear deterrent is based on four new Vanguard-class submarines, each outfitted to carry 16 U.S.-supplied Trident II sea-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and 48 warheads. Britain shares a pool of missiles with the United States at the Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic, Kings Bay Submarine Base, Georgia. The Royal Navy retrieves missiles from the U.S. storage area and places warheads on the missiles onboard. Missiles are serviced by the United States. Although Britain has title to 58 SLBMs, it technically does not own them. The nuclear role of Britain's Tornado aircraft was terminated in 1998, bringing to an end a four-decade history of Royal Air Force aircraft carrying nuclear weapons. In 2004, British and U.S. officials conducted negotiations concerning the development of new "mini-nukes" to replace Britain's aging Trident system, a politically sensitive subject in the country.
WMD > Nuclear The United Kingdom is a nuclear weapon state party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The UK's current stockpile is thought to consist of less than 200 strategic and "sub-strategic" warheads on Vanguard-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN). The Strategic Defense Review of July 1998 called for major changes in the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons program. Air-delivered weapons were removed from service, leaving the SSBNs as the United Kingdom's only nuclear deterrent. The Review mandated that only one submarine be on patrol at a time, with its missiles detargeted and with a reduced number of warheads (maximum of 48). On May 1, 2004, the Nuclear Safeguards Act went into effect in the United Kingdom, providing necessary legislation for the enforcement of the "additional protocol" designed to provide greater protection against nuclear non-proliferation. This protocol built on existing nuclear safeguards agreements with the IAEA. The United Kingdom ratified the NPT in November 1968 and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in June 1998.

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