Royal Navy numbers ‘starting to grow’ amid broader strain

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, has told Parliament that Royal Navy personnel numbers are beginning to recover, even as the Armed Forces continue to shrink by 200 to 300 people per month.

Speaking during a session of the Public Accounts Committee on the Ministry of Defence’s future equipment and spending plans, Admiral Radakin offered a frank assessment of personnel trends across the three services.

“The armed forces are getting smaller each month to the tune of about two to three hundred,” Radakin said. However, he stressed that the situation is improving: “That decrease is getting considerably less than it has been over the last couple of years.”

Breaking down the picture by service, the Admiral highlighted diverging trends. “The Navy has stabilised and is starting to get bigger now,” he said. “The Air Force is reasonably stable. The Army is still on a downward trajectory.”

Despite encouraging signals from the maritime service, the overall picture remains a challenge for defence planners. Radakin emphasised that recruitment and retention remain key priorities, particularly the need to improve the conversion of applications into trained service personnel.

The Chief of Defence Staff also acknowledged that overly stringent medical requirements have historically excluded otherwise suitable candidates. The Ministry of Defence has now implemented changes to ease entry requirements without lowering quality, including a review of medical standards to account for shorter average service careers.

The improvement in Royal Navy personnel numbers comes as the UK ramps up its global maritime presence, including the Carrier Strike Group’s Operation Highmast deployment and ongoing commitments in the Indo-Pacific.

Radakin concluded by underlining that despite recruitment hurdles, the Armed Forces continue to be a vital contributor to national security and that efforts are underway to ensure that people who join feel they are making the right decision.

“They join to serve their country. They join to have fantastic careers. They join to be developed during their time in service. How can we reinforce that that is what is happening, and that actually they made the right decision, and that there are reasons for them to stay in…”