The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the UK military.

The principle objective of the MoD is to ensure the security of the UK and its overseas territories. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War the MoD does not forsee any 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 military, military and contingency planning and defence procurement.

Defence policy

The 1998 Strategic Defence Review and the 2003 Delivering Security in a Changing World White Paper outlined the following posture for the UK armed forces:

• The ability to support three simultaneous small to medium scale operations, where at least one is an enduring peace-keeping mission (e.g. Kosovo). These forces must be capable of acting as lead nation in any coalition operations.
• The ability, at longer notice, to deploy forces in a large scale operation while running a concurrent small scale operation.

Ministers and officials as of 22 August, 2003

• Secretary of State for Defence - The Rt Hon. Geoff Hoon MP
  • Minister of State (Armed Forces) - The Rt Hon. Adam Ingram MP
  • Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for Defence Procurement) - The Rt Hon. The Lord Bach
  • Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for Veterans) - Ivor Caplin MP
  • Permanent Under-Secretary of State

Departmental Agencies

• Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) ¹
• Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency ¹
• Army Personnel Centre ¹
• Army Training and Recruiting Agency ¹
• British Forces Postal Services ¹
• Central Data Management Authority ¹
• Defence Analytical Services Agency ³
• Defence Aviation Repair Agency ¹
• Defence Bills Agency ²
• Defence Communication Services Agency ¹
• Defence Dental Agency ³
• Defence Estates ³
• Defence Geographic and Imagery Intelligence Agency ¹
• Defence Housing Executive ³
• Defence Intelligence and Security Centre ¹
• Defence Medical, Education and Training Agency ³
• Defence Procurement Agency ²
• Defence Science and Technology Laboratory ³
• Defence Storage and Distribution Agency ¹
• Defence Transport and Movements Agency ¹
• Defence Vetting Agency ¹
• Disposal Services Agency ²
• Duke of York's Royal Military School ³
• Medical Supplies Agency ³
• Meteorological Office ³
• Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency , which includes the Ministry of Defence Police ³
• Naval Manning Agency ¹
• Naval Recruiting and Training Agency ¹
• Pay and Personnel Agency Parliamentary ³
• Queen Victoria School ³
• RAF Personnel Manning Agency ¹
• RAF Training Group Defence ¹
• Service Children's Education ³
• UK Hydrographic Office ³
• Veterans Agency ³
• Warship Support Agency ¹

¹ reporting to the Minister of State (Armed Forces).

² reporting to the Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for Defence Procurement)

³ reporting to the Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for Veterans)

Origins

The Ministry of Defence subsumed the operations of the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry in 1964.

Buildings

Henry VIII's wine cellar from the Palace of Whitehall built in 1514-1516 is located within the basement of the Ministy of Defence offices in Whitehall, and is used for entertainment. The entire structure was moved a short distance in 1949 in order to accommodate the layout of the MOD building.

External Links:

• Official website

See Also

• UK topics