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Options for Change

Options for Change was a restructuring of the British military in 1993, aimed at cutting defence spending following the end of the Cold War.

Among the changes implemented were:

• Cutting total manpower to around 255,000 (120,000 British Army; 60,000 Royal Navy; 75,000 Royal Air Force)

British Army

• Halving the troop strength in Germany by replacing the British Army of the Rhine with British Forces Germany in 1994.
• Several British Army regiments amalgamated:

Infantry

• • The King's Own Fusiliers
    • The Cumbrian Regiment
    • The King's Fusiliers
  • The Highlanders
    • The Queen's Own Highlanders
    • The Gordon Highlanders
  • The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
    • The Queen's Regiment
    • The Royal Hampshire Regiment
  • The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment
    • The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment
    • The Gloucestershire Regiment
  • The Royal Gurkha Rifles
    • 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles
    • 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles
    • 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles
    • 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles
  • The Royal Irish Regiment
    • The Royal Irish Rangers
    • The Ulster Defence Regiment

Cavalry

• • The Household Cavalry Regiment
    • The Life Guards
    • The Blues and Royals
  • The King's Royal Hussars
    • The Royal Hussars
    • 14th/20th King's Hussars
  • The Light Dragoons
    • 13th/18th Royal Hussars
    • 15th/19th King's Royal Hussars
  • The Queen's Royal Hussars
    • The Queen's Own Hussars
    • The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars
  • The Queen's Royal Lancers
    • 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers
    • 17th/21st Lancers
  • The Royal Dragoon Guards
    • 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
    • 5th Royal Iniskilling Dragoon Guards

Services

• • Royal Logistic Corps
    • Royal Corps of Transport
    • Royal Army Ordnance Corps
    • Royal Pioneer Corps
    • Army Catering Corps
    • Postal and Courier Service, Royal Engineers
  • Adjutant General's Corps
    • Royal Army Educational Corps
    • Royal Army Pay Corps
    • Women's Royal Army Corps
    • Army Legal Corps
    • Corps of Royal Military Police
    • Military Provost Staff Corps

Royal Air Force

• Halving the number of RAF bases in Germany to two
• Withdrawing the F-4 Phantom II squadrons from service
• Cancellation of the Brimstone missile, although it was later reinstated.

Royal Navy

• Cutting the number of frigates and destroyers from around 50 to 40.

See also

• Strategic Defence Review (1998)
• Delivering Security in a Changing World:Future Capabilites (2004)
• Military of the United Kingdom