Armed Forces

The Strategic Defence Review states that the Armed Forces must compete the journey from 'joint' to 'integrated'. On 1 April 2025, the Chief of the Defence Staff became head of the new Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ) with command over the Service Chiefs. This change ensures that authorities for force design and activity delivery now flow top-down from a single point of military authority. The MSHQ has also appointed an interoperability champion to support NATO in its development of its own interoperability plan. We have already seen tangible progress in improving interoperability with allies, for example, the UK's Carrier Strike Group has recently been under NATO Command, integrated into both Alliance operational and tactical command and control Systems.