50 Years of British Military Power: Forces, Equipment, and Personnel 
From 1975 - 2025

The UK's new Strategic Defence Review is in its final stages and only weeks away from publication.

It is likely to outline how the UK will be aiming to spend more on defence in coming years. But the backdrop to the review is decades of gradually declining UK military capabilities amid falling or stagnant spending.

The graphic here reveals how the UK's military has shrunk over the past 50 years. With increasing strategic competition, a revanchist Russia and a less committed US, the UK faces an unstable international order with a weakened military.

It is just one of the many metrics Arcipel follows when providing strategic advice to governmental and corporate clients.