Editing British Armed Forces (section)

===Defence expenditure===
{{See also|List of countries in Europe by military expenditures}}[[File:Top ten military expenditures in US$ Bn. in 2014, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.PNG|thumb|Top ten military expenditures in billion US$ in 2014]]
According to the [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]], the United Kingdom is in sixth place in the world's military spending list in 2023.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date= |title=Trends in World Military expenditure 2023 |url=https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/2404_fs_milex_2023.pdf#page=2 |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=sipri.org}}</ref> For comparison: Great Britain spends more in absolute terms than Germany, Ukraine, France or Japan, similar to Saudi Arabia, but less than India, Russia, China or the United States.<ref name=":2" /> In September 2011, according to Professor Malcolm Chalmers of 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 2020s, and possibly beyond."<ref>[https://rusi.org/system/files/RUSIBriefingPaperSept2011.pdf RUSI Briefing Paper] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816202255/https://rusi.org/system/files/RUSIBriefingPaperSept2011.pdf |date=16 August 2016 }}, Is the UK Defence Budget Crisis Really Over?. Malcolm Chalmers. Published September 2011, p. 18</ref> The [[Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015]] committed to spending 2% of GDP on defence and announced a £178&nbsp;billion investment over ten years in new equipment and capabilities.<ref>{{cite news|title=UK announces rapid strike forces, more warships in new defence plan|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-defence-idUKKBN0TC0V120151123|access-date=23 November 2015|work=Reuters|date=23 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124125230/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/11/23/uk-britain-defence-idUKKBN0TC0V120151123|archive-date=24 November 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=PM pledges £178 billion investment in defence kit|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-pledges-178-billion-investment-in-defence-kit|publisher=Ministry of Defence|access-date=23 November 2015|date=23 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123145305/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-pledges-178-billion-investment-in-defence-kit|archive-date=23 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> On 8 March 2023 Prime Minister [[Rishi Sunak]] announced a further £5bn in defence spending with a long-term goal of an increased spending to 2.5% of GDP.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 March 2023 |title=Rishi Sunak: China represents challenge to world order |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64943445 |access-date=14 March 2023}}</ref>