Ministry of Defence ( United Kingdom ) The Ministry of Defence ( MoD ) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces . The MoD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability . With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War the MoD does not foresee any short - term conventional military threat ; rather , it has identified weapons of mass destruction , international terrorism , and failed and failing states as the overriding threats to the UK ' s interests . The MoD also manages day to day running of the armed forces , contingency planning and defence procurement . History . During the 1920s and 1930s , British civil servants and politicians , looking back at the performance of the state during World War I , concluded that there was a need for greater co - ordination between the three Services that made up the armed forces of the United Kingdom — the British Army , the Royal Navy , and the Royal Air Force . The formation of a united ministry of defence was rejected by Prime Minister David Lloyd George ' s coalition government in 1921 ; but the Chiefs of Staff Committee was formed in 1923 , for the purposes of inter - Service co - ordination . As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s , Stanley Baldwin created the position of Minister for Coordination of Defence . Lord Chatfield held the post until the fall of Neville Chamberlain ' s government in 1940 ; his success was limited by his lack of control over the existing Service departments and his limited political influence . Winston Churchill , on forming his government in 1940 , created the office of Minister of Defence to exercise ministerial control over the Chiefs of Staff Committee and to co - ordinate defence matters . The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlee ' s government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946 . The new ministry was headed by a Minister of Defence who possessed a seat in the Cabinet . The three existing service Ministers — the Secretary of State for War , the First Lord of the Admiralty , and the Secretary of State for Air — remained in direct operational control of their respective services , but ceased to attend Cabinet . From 1946 to 1964 five Departments of State did the work of the modern Ministry of Defence : the Admiralty , the War Office , the Air Ministry , the Ministry of Aviation , and an earlier form of the Ministry of Defence . These departments merged in 1964 ; the defence functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971 . Defence policy . The 1998 Strategic Defence Review and the 2003 " Delivering Security in a Changing World " White Paper outlined the following posture for the British Armed Forces : Perceived current threats . Following the end of the cold war , the perceived threat of direct conventional military confrontation with other states has been replaced by terrorism - Sir Richard Dannatt predicted British forces to be involved in combating " predatory non - state actors " for the foreseeable future , in what he called an " era of persistent conflict " . He told the prestigious think tank Chatham House that the fight against al - Qaeda and other militant Islamist groups was " probably the fight of our generation " . Sir Richard Dannatt criticised a remnant " Cold War mentality " , with military expenditures based on retaining a capability against a direct conventional strategic threat ; He said currently only 10 % of the MoD ' s equipment programme budget between 2003 and 2018 was to be invested in the " land environment " - at a time when Britain was engaged in land - based wars in Afghanistan and Iraq . The Defence Committee - Third Report " Defence Equipment 2009 " cites an article from the Financial Times website stating that the Chief of Defence Materiel — General Sir Kevin O ’ Donoghue had instructed staff within Defence Equipment and Support ( DE & S ) through an internal memorandum to reprioritize the approvals process to focus on supporting current operations over the next three years ; deterrence related programmes ; those that reflect defence obligations both contractual or international ; and those where production contracts are already signed . The report also cites concerns over potential cuts in the defence science and technology research budget ; implications of inappropriate estimation of Defence Inflation within budgetary processes ; underfunding in the Equipment Programme ; and a general concern over striking the appropriate balance over a short - term focus ( Current Operations ) and long - term consequences of failure to invest in the delivery of future UK defence capabilities on future combatants and campaigns . The then Secretary of State for Defence — The Rt Hon . Bob Ainsworth , MP reinforced this reprioritization of focus on current operations and had not ruled out " " major shifts " " in defence spending . In the same article the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff — Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope , Royal Navy , acknowledged that there was not enough money within the defence budget and it is preparing itself for tough decisions and the potential for cutbacks . According to figures published by the London Evening Standard the defence budget for 2009 is " " more than 10 % overspent " " ( figures cannot be verified ) and the paper states that this had caused Gordon Brown to say that the defence spending must be cut . The MoD has been investing in IT to cut costs and improve services for its personnel . Senior officials . Ministerial Team . The ministerial team at the MoD is headed by the Secretary of State for Defence , who is supported by one Minister of State and four Parliamentary Under - Secretaries of State . Permanent Secretaries and other senior officials . The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by a number of civilian , scientific and professional military advisors . The Permanent Under - Secretary of State for Defence ( generally known as the Permanent Secretary ) is the senior civil servant at the MoD . His role is to ensure the MoD operates effectively as a department of the government . Chiefs of the Defence Staff . The current Chief of the Defence Staff , the professional head of the British Armed Forces , is Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup . He is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and by the professional heads of the three sections of the armed forces . There are also several Deputy Chiefs of the Defence Staff with particular remits , such as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff ( Equipment Capability ) , Deputy CDS ( Personnel ) and Deputy CDS ( Commitments ) . The Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff ( Health ) , Lt Gen Robert Baxter , represents the Defence Medical Services on the Defence Staff , even though the Surgeon General , Surgeon Vice - Admiral Philip Raffaelli , is the clinical head of that service . Additionally , there are a number of Assistant Chiefs of Defence Staff , including the Defence Services Secretary in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom , who is customarily also the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff ( Personnel and Reserves ) . Departmental Agencies . The following executive agencies are the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence : The MoD has been reducing the number of bodies with Agency status - such as the Defence Analytical Services Agency and the Defence Medical Education and Training Agency - through reoganisation and mergers , taking them back into the core organisation . Property portfolio . The Ministry of Defence is one of the United Kingdom ' s largest landowners , with hundreds of sites across the country , including military training grounds , ranges , storage and distribution centres , barracks , military - family accommodation and administrative buildings , etc . These are largely managed by the Defence Estates agency . A 2005 National Audit Office report values the MoD ' s estate at £15 , 300 , 000 , 000 and puts the area covered at 2 , 400 square kilometres ( 927 square miles ) ( or just under 1 % of UK ' s land area ) . This figure has been much reduced since the Second World War and continues to diminish through rationalisation of bases , etc . Of this , a third is classified as " built " ; two thirds are " rural " ( mostly training areas whose natural environments have been little altered ) . The National Audit Office also estimates annual expenditure on the defence estate at £1 , 300 , 000 , 000 . The headquarters of the MoD are in Whitehall and are now known as Main Building . This structure is neoclassical in style and was originally built between 1938 and 1959 to designs by Vincent Harris to house the Air Ministry and the Board of Trade . The northern entrance in Horse Guards Avenue is flanked by two monumental statues , " Earth " and " Water " , by Charles Wheeler . Opposite stands the Ghurka Monument , sculpted by Philip Jackson and unveiled in 1997 by Queen Elizabeth II . Within it is the Victoria Cross and George Cross Memorial , and nearby are memorials to the Fleet Air Arm and RAF ( to its east , facing the riverside ) . A major refurbishment of the building was completed under a PFI contract by Skanska in 2004 . Henry VIII ' s wine cellar at the Palace of Whitehall , built in 1514 – 1516 , is in the basement of Main Building , and is used for entertainment . The entire arched brick structure of the cellar was moved a short distance in 1949 . Fraud . The most notable fraud conviction was that of Gordon Foxley , head of defence procurement at the Ministry of Defence from 1981 to 1984 . Police claimed he received at least £3 . 5m in total in corrupt payments substantial bribes from overseas arms contractors aiming to influence the allocation of contracts . Criticism . Chinook HC3 helicopters . The MoD has been criticised for an ongoing fiasco , having spent £240m on eight Chinook HC3 helicopters which only started to enter service in 2010 , years after they were ordered in 1995 and delivered in 2001 . A National Audit Office report reveals that the helicopters have been stored in air conditioned hangars in Britain since their 2001 delivery , while troops in Afghanistan have been forced to rely on helicopters which are flying with safety faults . By the time the Chinooks are airworthy , the total cost of the project could be as much as £500m . In April 2008 , a £90m contract was signed with Boeing for a " quick fix " solution , so they can fly by 2010 : QinetiQ will downgrade the Chinooks - stripping out some of their more advanced equipment . Volunteer army cuts . In October 2009 , the MoD was heavily criticised for withdrawing the bi - annual non - operational training £20m budget for the volunteer Territorial Army ( TA ) , ending all non - operational training for 6 months until April 2010 . The government eventually backed down and restored the funding . The TA provides a small percentage of the UK ' s operational troops . Its members train on weekly evenings and monthly weekends , as well as two week exercises generally annually and occasionally bi - annually for troops doing other courses . The cuts would have meant a significant loss of personnel and would have had adverse effects on recruitment .