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
MoD Main Building, Westminster
Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, Chief of the Defence Staff since September 2025
Defence chiefs at the Coronation of Charles III in 2023
A British armed forces careers office in Oxford
British Armed Forces
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His Majesty's Armed Forces, also known colloquially as the British Armed Forces, are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Cro
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
…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. Its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests, promote national interests globally…
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo, 1815
The Great Siege of Gibraltar, showing the defeat of the Franco-Spanish assault in September 1782
Royal Irish Rifles soldiers at the Battle of the Somme in 1916
Men of No. 4 Commando being briefed before the Normandy landings in 1944