More than 10,000 in armed forces not fit to fight, Ministry of Defence says
More than 10,000 people in the armed forces cannot go to war because they are "medically undeployable", figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have shown.
In a written parliamentary question, Defence Minister Al Carns revealed that across the various branches of the armed forces, 99,560 are medically fully deployable, with 14,350 limited deployability and 13,522 medically not deployable.
The Royal Navy has 2,922 members medically not deployable, the army 6,879 and the Royal Air Force 3,721.
The Ministry of Defence said about 90% of its armed force personnel were deployable “at any point”.
They added: "Most of the remaining members of our Armed Forces are employed in wider military roles.
“We are committed to providing world-class medical treatment to ensure personnel can return to duty where possible, or to support their transition to civilian life.”
Former armed forces minister James Heappey, who served under three Conservative prime ministers, said he believes a lack of dental check-ups is responsible for a number of those deemed medically unfit.
Speaking to Times Radio on Tuesday morning, Heappey said: “I’ll bet you that a big chunk of the non-deployable, medically downgraded people are downgraded for dental reasons.
“And what that tends to mean is that they’ve not had a dental check-up in the last six months, and so they are automatically declared dentally unfit, and therefore not fully deployable.”
Service personnel with medical conditions or fitness issues which affect their ability to perform their duties will generally be referred to a medical board for a medical examination and review of their medical grading.
They may be downgraded, to allow for treatment, recovery and rehabilitation and deployability status can be awarded on a temporary or permanent basis.
Deployable is defined as personnel who are able to deploy on operations. Some personnel may have medical limitations which restrict the type or location of operation they can be deployed on.
MoD statistics from April 2024 showed the Army fell below its target size for the first time since it was set, meaning all three service branches are currently below target: the Army by 1%, the RN/RM by 5% and the RAF by 10%.
Overall, the UK armed forces were 5,440 personnel (1%) below target.
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Following details of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there has been speculation that the UK could be considering sending troops to Ukraine to help train its armed forces.
Last week, Defence Secretary John Healey said it is a “critical period” for Ukraine and pledged that the UK would be “stepping up” help.
He announced a new £225 million package of support for the country in its ongoing fight against Russia's invasion.
The package involves £186 million for military equipment through the International Fund for Ukraine, including £92 million for the country's navy and £68 million for air defence equipment.
It also includes £39 million for counter-drone systems and protective equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces.
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