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Written question asked by Neil O'Brien (Conservative) on Wednesday, 29 October 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 November 2025. It was answered by Louise Sandher-Jones (Labour) on Friday, 7 November 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.


Armed Forces: Officers

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving (a) General Officers in the British Army, (b) Admirals and Flag Officers in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, (c) Air Officers of Air Rank in the Royal Air Force, (d) Commanding Officers of commissioned Royal Navy submarines and (e) Royal Air Force pilots holding frontline squadron command there are.

Answer

Parts a,b and c of the hon. Member's question are answered in the table below.

Number of UK Regular Forces, OF-6 to OF-10 by Service as at 1 July 2025

Service

Number

Royal Navy/ Royal Marines

135

Army

211

Royal Air Force

126

The Ministry of Defence does not routinely disclose the trained strength of individual branches or specialisations as to do so could, or would be likely to, prejudice the security of the Armed Forces. For this reason, I am withholding the answer to parts D and E of this question.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
86284
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Officers
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk