National statistics

UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023

Updated 8 March 2024

This is an annual publication which provides information on the numbers and types of equipment and formations of the UK armed forces. Equipment and formations statistics have been presented based on the UK armed forces areas: land, maritime and air. Also provided are data sourced from the Department for Transport (DfT) on militarily-useful British-registered vessels. The supplementary tables can be found here: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023.

Data is provided as at 1 April each year (except DfT data which is as at 31 December each year).

1. Main Points and Trends

Maritime

At 1 April 2023, there were 10 submarines and 72 vessels in the UK armed forces (59 vessels in the Royal Navy Surface Fleet; 13 vessels in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary).

Land

Due to an ongoing process to improve the quality of field army equipment data, the currently published numbers are provisional. This publication will be amended once the process is complete and the numbers are finalised.

In the UK armed forces, there were 3,207 pieces of Combat Equipment at 1 April 2023, consisting of:

• 845 Armoured Personnel Carriers

• 1,480 Protected Mobility Vehicles

• 882 Armoured Fighting Vehicles

At 1 April 2023, there were 32 Regular Army Battalions in the Infantry and 16 Army Reserves Battalions.

Air

At 1 April 2023, there were 564 Fixed-wing aircraft and 294[r] Rotary-wing aircraft in the UK armed forces.

In addition, there were 194[r] Unmanned Aircraft Systems as at 1 April 2023. The platforms reported are those categorised as Certified as well as S2 as per Regulatory Article (RA) 1600: Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS).

Responsible Statistician: Analysis Publications Head of Branch

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More details on the methodology used in this report are included in the Background Quality Report

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2. Introduction

This is an annual publication which provides information on the numbers and types of equipment and formations of the UK armed forces. Equipment and formations statistics have been presented based on the UK armed forces areas: maritime, land and air. Statistics are also provided on militarily-useful British-registered vessels (including passenger, tanker and fishing vessels).

Prior to 2016, equipment and formations statistics were published in the National Statistics publication Formations, Vessels and Aircraft. An internal review was held during March 2016, followed by a six-week public consultation. Based on consultation feedback, a number of changes were made to the publication, including a name change to better reflect the publication’s content.

The term ‘equipment’ for the purposes of this publication refers collectively to vessels, submarines, vehicles, aircraft, artillery and engineering equipment pieces.   

Data have been obtained from various Ministry of Defence sources: Navy Command, Army Equipment Department, Army Organisation Branch, Air Command and Joint Helicopter Command (JHC). Data on militarily-useful British-registered vessels has been provided by the Department for Transport. Further information about the data sources and data quality can be found in the Background Quality Report.

Data on Army Field equipment is currently provisional. For more information see the Background Quality Report.

This edition includes a revision on unmanned aircraft systems, including the addition of three platforms (Puma AE, Puma LE and Wasp) as well as clearer definitions of which platforms are included.

Figures for the Royal Marines have been revised due to a double counting error that had existed since 2016.

The number of Infantry Regular Army Battalions and Royal Signals Regular Army Regiments in 2022 have been revised due to an administrative error.

2.1 A National Statistics publication

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority designated these statistics as National Statistics on 3rd June 2016, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act of 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

• meet identified user needs;

• are well explained and readily accessible;

• are produced according to sound methods; and

• are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed. Further details about how this report has been developed since its confirmation as National Statistics can be found in the Background Quality Report.

3. Maritime Equipment and Formations

This section provides the main findings on the UK armed forces maritime equipment, and formations which are all or primarily sea-based, in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

3.1 Submarines

There were 10 submarines in the Royal Navy Submarine Service as at 1 April 2023, consisting of:

• 6 Nuclear Submarines

• 4 Ballistic Nuclear Submarines

3.2 Vessels

At 1 April 2023, there were 72 vessels in the UK armed forces: 59 vessels in the Royal Navy and 13 in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA).

The reduction from 62 Royal Navy vessels in 2022 to 59 in 2023 is due to the planned retirement of 2 Mine Countermeasures Vessel and 1 Survey ship. The increase of Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships to 13 from 11 in 2022 is due to 1 Mine Hunting Capability vessel and 1 Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance vessel entering service.

Worksheet 1 provides further statistics on Maritime vessels and submarines: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023.

3.3 Maritime Formations

The Royal Navy has 16 Reserve Units and a Fleet Diving Squadron consisting of 13 Units up from 10 in 2022. This is due to a planned restructuring of the Royal Navy Fleet Diving Squadrons. The Royal Marines consists of 3 Commando Brigade, the Royal Marine Band Service, the Commando Training Centre and 4 Reserve Units.

For information on the changes to Royal Marines formation data, please see Background Quality Report.

Worksheet 2 provides further breakdowns of maritime formations (excluding the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm which are included in Table 9): UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023.

3.4 Militarily-useful British-registered vessels

Militarily-useful vessels are defined as vessels that could be requisitioned in appropriate circumstances in support of the UK armed forces.

The number of passenger, tanker, and dry cargo merchant vessels decreased from 532 in 2021 to 495 in 2022, with product and chemical tankers and container ships showing the largest decline. Additionally, due to a change in data provider used by DfT, the number of Roll-on Roll-off vessels could not be provided.

Due to a change in data provider used by the DfT the figures for merchant specialist and fishing providers could not be provided for 2022.

For more information, please see the Background Quality Report.

Worksheets 3 and 4 provide further breakdowns of militarily-useful British-registered vessels: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023.

4. Land Equipment and Formations

This section provides the main findings on the UK armed forces Land equipment, and formations which are primarily land-based, in the Army.

4.1 Land Equipment

There were 3,207 pieces of Combat Equipment at 1 April 2023, a reduction of 433 platforms since 2022. This is predominantly due the planned retirement of the Scimitar from service to be replaced by Ajax, as well as platforms gifted in kind to Ukraine.

Most Combat Equipment Platforms at 1 April 2023 were Protected Mobility Vehicles (46%), with Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Armoured Personnel Carriers making up 28% and 26% respectively.

The most common types of land platforms in the UK armed forces are:

• Bulldog (APC) - 746

• Warrior (AFV) - 625

The UK armed forces had 212 Artillery and 148 Engineering Equipment pieces at 1 April 2023. The reduction of Artillery from 244 to 212 is due to gifting in kind to Ukraine.

At 1 April 2023, there were 14,108 pieces of Combat Support Equipment in the UK armed forces of which 46% were Landrovers and 47% were Wheeled Support Vehicles.

Worksheet 5 provides further statistics on land equipment platforms: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023.

4.2 Land Formations

The Army can be split into three main parts: Combat Forces, Combat Support Forces and Combat Service Support.

The Combat Forces includes the Infantry and Royal Armoured Corps. At 1 April 2023, there were 32 Regular Army and 16 Army Reserves Infantry Battalions, and 15 Royal Armoured Corps Regiments (11 Regular; 4 Reserves). There has been a reduction in the number of Royal Army Medical Corps regiments from 24 in 2022, to 19 in 2023. This is in line with restructuring plans under the Future Soldier program.

Worksheet 6 provides further breakdowns of Army formations (excluding the Army Air Corps which are included in Table 9): UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023.

5. Air Equipment and Formations

This section provides the main findings on the UK armed forces aircraft, and formations which are primarily air-based, as at 1 April 2023.

5.1 Fixed-wing Aircraft

Typhoons are the most common type of Fixed-wing platform with 137 aircraft at 1 April 2023.

The UK armed forces had 564 Fixed-wing platforms at 1 April 2023, an increase of 8 since 2022. This is following the introduction of 2 Envoy IV to replace the retired BAE 146 as well as increases to the size of the Lightning and A400M fleets.

Of the 426 Fixed-wing aircraft (for which ‘in service’ figures are recorded), 308 (72%) are ‘in service’ compared to 67%[r] in 2022. ‘In service’ figures are not available for platforms operated under contracts. ‘In service’ Fixed-wing platforms are all aircraft in active fleet management, which can include aircraft in storage.

5.2 Unmanned Aircraft Systems

There were 194[r] Unmanned Aircraft Systems as at 1 April 2023, a decrease of 164[r] since 2022. This is due to the planned retirement of the Desert Hawk III. The platforms reported are those categorised as Certified or S2 as per Regulatory Article (RA) 1600: Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS). Please see the Background Quality Report for more information.

5.3 Rotary-wing Aircraft

Chinook are the most common type of Rotary-wing platform with 59 aircraft at 1 April 2023.

The UK armed forces had 294[r] Rotary-wing platforms at 1 April 2023, 15[r] more than 2022. Since April 2022, the number of Apache AH-64E platforms has increased as they continue to be brought in to service.

Of the 258 Rotary-wing aircraft (for which ‘in service’ figures are recorded), 193 (75%) were in ‘service’ compared to 79% in 2022. The definition of ‘in service’ differs slightly for aircraft owned by Navy Command.

Worksheets 7 and 8 provide further Fixed-wing and Rotary-wing aircraft statistics: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023.

5.4 Air Formations

At 1 April 2023, there were 103 squadrons in the Royal Air Force, 5 more than the previous year. The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm consists of 16 squadrons and four Headquarters, whilst the Army Air Corps incorporates eight Regiments (seven Regular; one Reserve).

The Royal Air Force Combat Support-Force Protection was renamed to Air Security; Combat and Readiness.

Worksheet 9 provides further breakdowns of Air formations: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2023.

6. Further Information

6.1 Definitions

Definitions and further information about the types and categories of UK armed forces equipment and formations can be found on each of the Services’ websites:

• Royal Navy and Royal Marines

• Army

• Royal Air Forces

Some definitions have been provided in the Glossary for additional information.

6.2 Rounding

All figures in this report are actuals and have not been rounded.

6.3 Revisions

Corrections to the published statistics will be made if errors are found, or if figures change as a result of improvements to methodology or changes to definitions. When making corrections, we will follow the Ministry of Defence Statistics Revisions and Corrections Policy. All corrected figures will be identified by the symbol “r”, and an explanation will be given of the reason for and size of the revision.

Corrections which would have a substantial effect on the utility of the statistics will be corrected as soon as possible, by reissuing the publication. Minor errors will also be corrected, but for convenience these corrections may be timed to coincide with the next annual release of the publication.

This edition includes a revision on unmanned aircraft systems, including the addition of three platforms (Puma AE, Puma LE and Wasp) as well as clearer definitions of which platforms are included (worksheet 7).

Figures for the Royal Marines in worksheet 2 have been revised due to a double counting error that had existed since 2016.

The number of Infantry Regular Army Battalions and Royal Signals Regular Army Regiments in 2022 have been revised due to an administrative error (worksheet 6).

6.4 Contact Us

Defence Statistics welcome feedback on our statistical products. If you have any comments or questions about this publication or about our statistics in general, you can contact us as follows:

Email: Analysis-Publications@mod.gov.uk

If you require information which is not available within this or other available publications, you may wish to submit a Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to the Ministry of Defence. More information on this can be found on the GOV.UK website.

If you wish to correspond by mail, our postal address is:

Defence Statistics (Publications)

Ministry of Defence, Main Building

Floor 3 Zone M

Whitehall

London

SW1A 2HB

 

For general MOD enquiries, please call: 020 7218 9000

7. Glossary

Ballistic Nuclear Submarine - A Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN) is a nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered submarine.

Combat Equipment - Collective term used for Protected Mobility Vehicles, Armoured Personnel Carriers and Armoured Fighting Vehicles.

In Service - The definition of ‘in service’ varies across equipment types and between services. To assist interpretation, a definition of ‘in service’ has been provided in the footnotes for each table where ‘in Service’ figures have been used. Note that in service figures are not available for platforms operated under contracts. See footnotes for further information.

Militarily-useful British-registered vessels - Vessels that could be requisitioned in appropriate circumstances in support of the armed forces. It is required by international law for all merchant ships to be registered in a country, called its flag state. Flag refers to the country in which the ship is registered. Other types of ship might also be used in certain cases.  Foreign-flagged but British-owned ships could also be requisitioned in certain circumstances.

Nuclear submarine - A Ship Submersible Nuclear (SSN) is a conventionally armed, nuclear powered submarine.

Protected Mobility Vehicle - A wheeled Armoured Personnel Carrier serving as a military patrol, reconnaissance or security vehicle. Protected Mobility vehicles were developed in response to the threats of modern counter insurgency warfare, with an emphasis on Ambush Protection and Mine Resistance. Until recently these vehicles were termed ‘Protected Patrol Vehicles’.

Unmanned Aircraft System - The platforms reported are those categorised as Certified or S2 as per Regulatory Article (RA) 1600: Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS). Please see the Background Quality Report for more information.

Last updated: February 2024