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The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The principal objective of the MOD is to defend the United Kingdom and its interests. 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.
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: Ministers The current ministers at the MOD (since May 2006) are: 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 Marshall 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. Departmental Agencies
Origins 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; but 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. The Ministry of Defence made steady gains in power and control over the armed forces during the 1940s and 1950s, culminating in the announcement of the abolition of the three Service departments on 4 March 1963. In 1964, the Ministry of Defence absorbed the operations of the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Air Ministry. Property portfolio
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