section_path: Politics/Military
section_name: Military
paragraph_text: Military
  
  The British Armed Forces consist of three professional service branches: the Royal Navy and Royal Marines (forming the Naval Service), the British Army and the Royal Air Force. The armed forces of the United Kingdom are managed by the Ministry of Defence and controlled by the Defence Council, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The Commander-in-Chief is the British monarch, to whom members of the forces swear an oath of allegiance. The Armed Forces are charged with protecting the UK and its overseas territories, promoting the UK's global security interests and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO (including the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps), the Five Power Defence Arrangements, RIMPAC and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained in Ascension Island, Bahrain, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, Oman, Qatar and Singapore.
  
  According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the UK had the world's sixth- or fifth-highest military expenditures in 2024. Total defence spending in 2024 was estimated at 2.3 per cent of gross domestic product. Following the end of the Cold War defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" will be undertaken as part of a coalition.