The British Armed Forces are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.
The Ministry of Defence is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
A commander-in-chief or supreme commander is the person who exercises supreme command and control over an armed force or a military branch. As a technical term, it refers to military competencies that reside in a country's executive leadership, a head of state, head of government, or other designated government official.
The Secretary of State for Defence, also known as the Defence Secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence. As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
Sir Liam Fox is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party, Fox has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Somerset, formerly Woodspring, since 1992.
The Federal Ministry of Defence, abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at the Hardthöhe district in Bonn and has a second office in the Bendlerblock building in Berlin, which is occasionally used colloquially to denote the entire Ministry.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the country. The Ministry of Defence provides policy framework and resources to the armed forces to discharge their responsibility in the context of the defence of the country. The Indian Armed Forces and Indian Coast Guard under the Ministry of Defence are primarily responsible for ensuring the territorial integrity of India.
The Ministry of Defence is the Dutch ministry responsible for the armed forces of the Netherlands and veterans' affairs. The ministry was created in 1813 as the Ministry of War and in 1928 was combined with the Ministry of the Navy. After World War II in the ministries were separated again, in this period the Minister of War and Minister of the Navy were often the same person and the state secretary for the Navy was responsible for daily affairs of the Royal Netherlands Navy. In 1959 the ministries were merged once again. The ministry is headed by the Minister of Defence, currently Kajsa Ollongren, assisted by the Chief of the Defence, Onno Eichelsheim since April 2021.
Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations(RFCAs) are Crown bodies in the United Kingdom which give advice and assistance to the Defence Council, and to the Army, Royal Navy and RAF, on matters that concern reserves and cadets. They are contracted by the Ministry of Defence to provide services including management of the volunteer estate, employer support, cadets and youth and to establish and maintain links with the civilian community. Established in 1908 (known then as the County Associations), they are today organised as 13 regional associations, comprising voluntary members and a small full-time secretariat.
The Ministry of Defence is a Ministry of the Federal Government of Nigeria with the statutory responsibility of overseeing and supervising the Nigerian Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defence is headed by the Minister of Defence, a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Its main mission is to provide administrative and support services, timely and effectively to enable the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The chief of defence is the highest-ranking military officer in the armed forces of the Netherlands and is the principal military advisor to the minister of defence. On behalf of the minister of defence, he is responsible for operational policy, strategic planning and for preparing and executing military operations carried out by the armed forces. The chief of defence is in charge of the central staff and is the direct commanding officer of all the commanders of the branches of the armed forces. In this capacity, the chief of defence directs all the activities of the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Navy and Royal Netherlands Air Force. He is also in charge of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, when it is operating under the responsibility of the minister of defence.
Head of the Armed Forces is the position of the sovereign of the United Kingdom as commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces. However, supreme military authority has been delegated by the monarch to the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, a body officially charged with the direction and administration of the Armed Forces.
The Ministry of Defence (MINISDEF) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for planning, developing and carrying out the general guidelines of the Government about the defence policy and the managing of the military administration. It is the administrative and executive body of the Spanish Armed Forces.
Major James Stephen Heappey is a British politician and former soldier who served as Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2020 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wells in Somerset since 2015.
Leo Docherty is a British politician serving as Minister of State for the Armed Forces since 26 March 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldershot since 2017. Prior to being elected as an MP he served in the Scots Guards, before working in publishing and for the Conservative Party. He is the author of Desert of Death (2007).
The Navy Department was a former ministerial service department of the British Ministry of Defence responsible for the control and direction of His Majesty's Naval Service. It was established on 1 April 1964 when the Admiralty was absorbed into a unified Ministry of Defence, where it became the Navy Department. Political oversight of the department originally lay with the Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy (1964-1967) it then passed to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy (1967–1981), then later to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (1981-1990), and finally the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (1991–1997).
The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Somaliland (MoD) is a member of the Somaliland cabinet and the head of the Ministry of Defence. responsible for implementing the defence policy set by Government of Somaliland and directs the activity of the Ministry. The Defence Minister exercises day-to-day administrative and operational authority over the armed forces. The current Minister of Defence is Abdiqani Mohamoud Aateye.
The minister of state for veterans' affairs is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office in the British government, currently held by Johnny Mercer who took the office on 25 October 2022. Earlier, it was jointly with the Ministry of Defence. The officeholder has attended cabinet since 7 July 2022.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Families is a ministerial position in the Ministry of Defence in the British government, currently held by Andrew Murrison who took the office on 30 October 2022.
