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Britain's defence: what we spend, where it goes and what it buys

🛡️ Britain's defence: what we spend, where it goes, and why snapshot MoD, Parliament, NATO, SIPRI, MI5 & Home Office figures

Defence spending since 1960, as a share of the economy
The promises, and where they have got to
Where the next four years' money goes
How Britain compares
What the forces have
What things cost
Where the forces are, and why there
The strategy behind it
If they do this, we do this
Four states the government names in its own strategy, what it says each does, and what Britain has done in return.
Terrorism: the threat level, and the groups behind it
The case for spending more
    The case for caution
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      🛡️ How to read the defence figures

      Three measures of "defence spending"
      The Ministry of Defence's budget (£62.0bn in 2025-26) is what Parliament votes the MoD. NATO's measure is wider — it adds things such as military pensions and, from 2027, the intelligence agencies — which is why the percentages ministers quote are higher than the MoD budget divided by GDP. The chart since 1960 uses SIPRI's measure, a third definition, so that every year is counted the same way.
      Four headcounts
      "All personnel" (182,980) includes reserves, trainees and others; "full-time trained" (127,060) is who could deploy today; "regulars" (137,480) is the number usually compared with 1990. Each line says which it uses.
      What a weapon costs
      The MoD publishes programme and contract totals, not prices, each in the money of its own year. "About £X each" is our division of the total by the number bought; some totals include development and support and some do not, so it is a guide to scale, not a price tag. The MoD does not publish missile or shell prices, so none is printed.
      "If they do this, we do this"
      The descriptions of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are the UK government's own, quoted from its strategy documents and from MI5 — how Britain sees these states, which each disputes. "The game" under each is our reading of the logic, using the ideas in the box beneath it (deterrence by punishment and by denial, the grey zone, credible commitment), and is labelled as ours.
      The threat level
      Set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, independently of ministers, on a five-step scale. It says how likely an attack is, not what to do; the level printed is the one in force when the tile was reviewed — check MI5's page for today's.
      Terrorist groups
      The eleven listed are our selection from the 84 proscribed organisations, for their relevance to Britain. Each aim is the Home Office's description, not the group's. The IRGC is not on the terrorism list; it was designated in July 2026 under a separate law for state-backed groups.
      Per income tax payer
      As on every UK tile, money is divided by HMRC's count of income tax payers rather than by population, because they are the people paying for it. It is an illustration, not a bill: defence is paid for from all taxes and from borrowing.
      What is not here, and why
      Troop numbers for most individual overseas bases (published only in a spreadsheet we have not yet read); what each base costs (not published); a year-by-year path to 3.5% of GDP (none exists yet); the National Audit Office's verdict on the Defence Investment Plan (due this autumn); missile and shell prices (withheld). The tile will be updated as they appear.

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