Nearly one in five British army troops cannot perform full combat duties because of illness, injuries or other reasons, news reports from England said.

Of the 18,000 active-duty troops affected, only about 10,000 could only take part in certain combat operations.

Conservative Member of Parliament, Andrew Bowie, a former naval officer, uncovered the figures through a written response to a parliamentary question.

"I think these figures are very worrying," Bowie told The Independent. "Far from the 82,000 soldiers that the British army is supposed to have, it seems that, when medically unavailable soldiers are taken into account, it is more like 60,000.

"This gap is placing a huge burden on an already overstretched Army required to carry out the roles the government asks them to do on our behalf."

An army spokesman, however, told Forces News that "the army has enough people to perform its operational requirements to keep Britain safe -- 95 percent of posts are filled and in the last year we've recruited nearly 8,000 people into a variety of posts which will give them skills for life."

The British Army currently numbers about 78,407 full-time and trained troops. The Ministry of Defense's target number, however, is 82,000.

The controversy comes as the country faces cuts to defense spending.

Tweet

U.S. Army to upgrade weapons on Abrams tanks
Washington (UPI) Dec 1, 2017
Kongsberg Defense Systems, a Norwegian government-owned company, has been tapped to deliver additional enhanced upgrades for the U.S. Army's M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank. The deal, announced Friday by Kongsberg, is worth about $3.9 million U.S. dollars. The procurement calls for the delivery of additional Protector Remote Weapon Stations, which enhance the visibility for a tank c ... read more

Related Links
The latest in Military Technology for the 21st century at SpaceWar.com

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only