Her Majesty's Armed Forces, commonly known as the British Armed Forces, and occasionally the Armed Forces of the Crown, are the armed forces of the United Kingdom. The Armed Forces consists of three professional uniformed services: the Royal Navy and Royal Marine Corps, forming the Naval Service, the British Army and the Royal Air Force.
The Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Armed Forces is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, to whom members of the forces swear allegiance. Under British constitutional law, the armed forces are subordinate to the Crown. However under the 1689 Bill of Rights no standing Army may be maintained during time of peace without the consent of Parliament; Parliament gives this consent every five years by passing an Armed Forces Act. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, headed by the Secretary of State for Defence.
The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and Crown Dependencies, as well as promoting Britain's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. Britain is also party to the Five Power Defence Arrangements. Recent operations have included wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2000 intervention in Sierra Leone, peacekeeping responsibilities in the Balkans and Cyprus, and participation in the UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained at Ascension Island, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, Qatar and the Sovereign Base Areas (Cyprus)
